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LIBRARY 


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Purchased  by  the  Ben 
J.  F.  Johnson  Bequest 
to  the  City  Library 


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ILLINOIS: 

HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAI 

VOL.  I. 


* 

w 


ILLINOIS 


Historical  and  Statistical 


COMPRISING  THE  ESSENTIAL  FACTS 

OF   ITS 

PLANTING  AND  GROWTH 

AS   A 

PROVINCE,  COUNTY,  TERRITORY,  AND  STATE. 


Derived  from  the  Most  Authentic  Sources,  including  Original 

Documents  and  Papers.     Together  with  Carefully  Prepared 

Statistical  Tables  relating  to  Population,  Financial 

Administration,  Industrial  Progress,  Internal 

Growth,  Political  and  Military  Events. 


by 


JOHN   MOSES, 


£x-County  Judge  of  Scott  County;  Private  Secretary  of  Gov.  Yates:  Member 

of  the  Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly  of  Illinois;  Secretary  of 

the  Board  of  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commissioners, 

1880-3;  Secretary  and  Librarian  of  the 

Chicago  Historical  Society; 

Etc.,  Etc. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


VOL.   I. 


CENTENNIAL   RO 

CHICAGO: 

FERGUS    PRINTING   COMPANY. 

1889. 

0fc**»ign  **>fic  Library 

Champaign,  Illinois 


M  *&  i 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1887,  by 

John  Moses, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Cv^O^ 


•> 


CONTENTS. 


List  of  Illustrations, 13 

Preface,     ---------  15 

Introductory. 

chapter  i. 

Illinois — Extent,  Soil,  Climate,  and  Productions,        .      17 

CHAPTER  11. 
Aborigines — Origin,  Location,  and  Habits,      -        -  36 

Period  I. — Under  the  French,  1682-1781. 

CHAPTER   III. 

Early  Explorations  and  Discoveries,  1673  -  1700,        -      52 

chapter  IV. 
-atholic  Missionaries — First  Permanent  Settlements,    81 

chapter  v. 

A  District  of  Louisiana — Crozat's  Grant — The  East-Indies 
Company — Civil  Government — Indian  Forays — State 
of  Society,  1718- 1756, 94 

CHAPTER   VI. 

The  French -and -Indian  War  — British  Claims — Wash- 
ington's Mission — Position  of  Illinois — How  affected — 
Why  the  French  Lost  the  Country,  1755- 1763,        109 

Period  II. — Under  the  British,  1761-1778. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Pontiac's  War — His  Failure  and  Death,        .        .         123 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

The  British  Government,  1765-1778,    .        .        -        -     131 
Period  III. — Under  Virginia,  1778-1784. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Illinois  in  the  Revolution — Its  Reduction  by  Virginia  under 
Col.  Clark — Capture  of  Vincennes — Indian  Treaties,  145 

9 


& 


1 


IO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

CHAPTER   X. 

The   County  of  Illinois— Officers  and   Government- 
Balme's  and  Brady's  Expeditions— Attack  on  St.  I 
and   Cahokia — The   Spanish   Expedition   against 
Joseph— Fort  Jefferson— Close  of  the  War  and 
mination  of  Virginia  Control,     . 

Period  IV. — Under  the  United  States,  1784-18  i 

CHAPTER   XI. 

The  Public  Domain  — How  Obtained— Its  Extent— V 
it  Cost  —  How  Surveyed, 

chapter  xii. 
Ordinance  of  1787— First  Sales  of  Public  Lands, 

chapter  xiii. 
As  a  Part  of  the  Northwest  Territory — Merged  intc 
Clair  County  — First  Officers  — Land -Titles  — In 
Disturbances — St.  Clair's  Defeat— Randolph  Cour 
Early  Attempts  to  Dismember  the  American  Ui 
1789-1800, 

chapter  xiv. 
As  2  Part  of  Indiana  Territory — Indian  Policy  and  T 
ties — Tables — Acquisition   of   Louisiana — Third    * 
tempt  to  Divide  the  Union — Schemes  of  Aaron  Bur 
1800-1809, 

chapter  xv. 

The  Territory  of  Illinois— First  American  Settlers— E 
Diseases— Manners,  Customs,  and  Recreations — I 
Preachers,  Lawyers,  Doctors,  and  Merchants, 

chapter  xvi. 

Illinois  Territory  [Continued]— Its  Organization— Gove 
Edwards  and  other  Officers— Indian  Disturbanc 
The  War  of  1812  — The  Chicago  Massacre  — C 
paigns  against  the  Indians— Peace, 

chapter  xvii. 

As  a  Territory  of  the  Second  Grade— First  General 
semblies  — Territorial  Laws  —  Officers  and  Mem 
of  the  Territorial  Legislatures,    .... 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Early  Territorial  Towns— Growth,  Population,  Politics,  267 
Period  V. — Under  the  First  Constitution,  1818-48. 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Admission  as  a  State— The  Enabling  Act— Constitutional 
Convention — First  Constitution — Action  of  Congress, 

276 

CHAPTER   XX. 

First  State-Election— Gov.  Bond— First  General  Assem- 
bly— Officers — Laws — Election  of  United-States  Sen- 
ators—  Congressional  Election — Cook  vs.  McLean — 
Removal  of  the  Capital, 287 

chapter  xxi. 

The  Second  General  Assembly  — State  Bank — Synopsis 
of  Laws — Resources  and  Expenditures,  .         300 

chapter  xxii. 
The  Election  of  Gov.  Coles — Third  General  Assembly — 
The  Struggle  to  make  Illinois  a  Slave-State — Election 
of  United-States  Senator— 1822-1826,  .         .        .     307 

chapter  xxiii. 

The  Fourth  General  Assembly — LaFayette's  Visit  to  Illi- 
nois—Lieut.-Gov.  Hubbard,        ....        327 

chapter  xxiv. 

The  Election  and  Administration  of  Governor  Edwards — 
National  Politics — Fifth  and  Sixth  General  Assem- 
blies— The  Winnebago  Scare — Banks  and  Taxes — 
Close  of  the  Governor's  Career,        .        .        .         337 

chapter  xxv. 

Administration  of  Gov.  Reynolds— The  Seventh  General 
Assembly — Black- Hawk  War — Receipts  and  Expen- 
ditures,     352 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Elections — Eighth  General  Assembly — Receipts  and  Ex- 
penditures—  Commercial  Progress — Social  Changes, 

379 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

Administration  of  Gov.  Duncan  —  Ninth  General  Assembly 


12  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

—  Election  of  United-States  Senator— Abraham  L 
coin  —  Laws  —  Tenth  General  Assembly  —  Interr 
Improvement   System  —  Illinois  -  and  -  Michigan  C? 

—  Removal  of  the  Capital — Lincoln  and  Dougla. 
National  Politics — Killing  of  Lovejoy — 1834- 1838,    . 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

First  Democratic  State  Convention  —  Administration 
Gov.  Thomas  Carlin — Eleventh  General  Assemblj 
First  Whig  State  Convention — Removal  of  the  Capi 
— Special  Session  at  Springfield  — Repeal  of  Intern, 
Improvement  System — Presidential  Campaign  of  18 
— Twelfth  General  Assembly — Reorganization  of  t 
Judiciary— 1838- 1842, 4 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Administration  of  Governor  Ford  —  Thirteenth  Gener 
Assembly — Election  of  U.-S.  Senator  and  State  Office 
— Bank  and  Public-Debt  Measures  —  State  Finances 
Election  of  1844  —  Fourteenth  General  Assembly 
Senatorial  Election  —  Laws  —  Illinois  -  and  -  Michigc 
Canal, 4^ 

CHAPTER   XXX. 

Administration  of  Gov.    Ford   continued  —  The   Mormc 
Imbroglio  —  The  Mexican  War,  .        .        .    \i 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

Administration  of  Gov.  French — Fifteenth  General  Assem 
bly — Election  of  Douglas  to  the  United -States  Senat 

—  Election  of    Auditor  and   other   Officers  —  Laws- 
Progress, 50 

Appendix  — Ordinance  of  July  13,  1787,       .        .        -51' 

Treaty  of  Greenville,  August  3,  1795,       -        -  52. 

Act  dividing  Indiana  Territory,    .        .        .        -  S2i. 

Act  enabling  People  to  form  State  Constitution,  53: 

Constitution  of  1818,  adopted  at  Kaskaskia,        .  53: 

Ordinance  accepting  the  Enabling  Act,  .  54= 

Resolution  declaring  Admission  of  Illinois,  -  545 

Cong'l  Apportionment  under  Constitution  of  1818,  54c" 

Table  showing  Genesis  and  Growth  of  Counties,  547 

List  of  State  Officers  under  Constitution  of  1818,  55c 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Baker,  Edward  D.,  from  a  portrait  in  possession  of  Joseph 

Wallace,  Springfield.  111.,      .-.-..         ^g0 

Bond,  Shadrach,  from  oil  portrait  in  Executive  Mansion,  at 

Springfield   111., 286 

Breese,  Sidney,  from  "Western  Monthly,"  Chicago,  1870,  490 

Buffalo  Rock,  1885,  photo  by  Wm.  E.  Bowman  of  Ottawa,  111.,     42 

Carlin,  Thomas,  from  oil  portrait  in  Executive  Mansion,  at 

Springfield,  111., 424 

Chicago  in  1812,  from  "Massacre  of  Chicago,"  by  Mrs.  John 

H.  Kinzie,  "Ellis  &  Fergus,  Chicago,  1844,"       -  246 

Clark,  Gen.  Geo.  Rogers,  from  his  "Campaign  in  Illinois,"     158 

Coles,  Edward,  from  oil  portrait  in  Chicago  Historical  Soc'y,   2S6 

Cook,  Daniel  Pope,  from  oil  portrait  in  Chicago  Hist.  Soc'y,   342 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  from  engraving,  ....     508 

Duncan,  Joseph,  from  bust,  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Edward  P. 

Kirby  of  Jacksonville,  111.,  ....  400 

Edwards,  Ninian,  from  oil  portrait  in  Chicago  Historical  Soc'y,  242 

Ewing,  William  Lee  D.,  from  litho,  by  permission  of  H.  W, 

Rokker  of  Springfield,  111., 424 

First  State-House,  at  Kaskaskia, 306 

Ford,    Thomas,   from    a   daguerrotype    in   possession    of  his 

nephew,  J.  S.  Hambaugh,  Springfield,  111.,    -        -        -         490 

Fort  Chartres,  from  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois," 

2d  ed.,  1887, 115 

French,  Augustus  C,  from  oil  portrait  in  Executive  Mansion 

at  Springfield,  111., 490 

Hall,  James,  from  his  "Romance  of  Western  History,"  424 

Harrison,  Gen.  Wm.  Henry,  from  engraving  in  "Magazine 

of  Western  History,"  Vol.  I, 158 

Henry,  Patrick,  from  an  India-ink  drawing,  by  A.  F.  Brooks, 
taken  from  a  portrait,  by  Thomas  Sully,  in  possession  of 
his  grandson,  Wm.  Wirt  Henry  of  Richmond,  Va.,  -     158 

13 


14  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Illinois  in  1673,  showing  location  of  Indian  tribes,  drawn  for 

this  work, 36 

Illinois  in  1771,  by  Thomas  Hutchins,  -        -        -        -     134 

»•  "    l8l2,  drawn  for  this  work,  ....         250 

'»  11    1818,        it  11  11  276 

»  m    1837*        "  "  "  ....         410 

Jones,  John  Rice,  photo  from   painting  owned   by  his   son, 

Hon.  Geo.  W.  Jones  of  Iowa,     -        -        -        -        -         158 

Kane,  Elias  Kent,  from  India-ink  drawing,  by  A.  F.  Brooks, 
taken  from  oil  portrait  in  possession  of  his  granddaughter, 
Mrs.  Gen.  Geo.  W.  Smith,  Chicago,      -         -         -         -         286 

Kaskaskia,  Plan  of  in  1765,  from  Capt.  Philip  Pittman's  "Settle- 
ments on  the  Mississippi/'  electrotype  from  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co., 268 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  from  a  photo  by  Alex.  Hesler  of  Chicago, 

taken  at  Springfield  in  summer  of  i860,        -         Frontispiece 

Menard,  Pierre,  from  oil  portrait  in  Chicago  Historical  Soc'y,  289 
"  Mormon,   Book  of,"  fac-simile  of  characters  from  which  it 

was  alleged  to  be  translated,  -  -  -  -  -  471 
Ordinance  of  1787,  fac-simile  of  "Article  VI"  in  handwriting  of 

Nathan  Dane,  through  W.  F.  Poole,  LL.D.,  Chicago,      -     512 

Peck,  John  Mason,  from  engraving  by  J.  Sartain,  in  memoir 

of,  by  Rufus  Babcock,         ------         424 

Pope,  Nathaniel,  from  portrait  in  U.-S.  District  Court,  Chicago, 

by  permission  of  Judge  Henry  Williams  Blodgett,      -         286 

Reynolds,  John,  from  his  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,*'  2d  ed.,  352 

Robinson,  John  M.,  from  litho,  by  permission  of  his  daughter, 

Mrs.  R.  F.  Stewart,  Carmi,  111.,        -----     424 

Second  State-House,  at  Vandalia,  111.,        -  306 

Semple,  James,  photo  from  oil  painting,  by  permission  of  his 

daughter,  Mrs.  Lucy  V.  Semple  Ames  of  Elsah,  111.,       -     460 

Shields,  Jarr.es,  from  engraving,        .,-...        400 

Starved  Rock,  from  a  photo  in  1879,  by  Wrn.  E.  Bowman  of 

Ottawa,  111., 42  . 

St.  Clair,  Gen.  Arthur,  from  engraving,  "The  St.  Clair  Papers,"  158 

Thomas,  Jesse  Burgess,  sr.,  from  a  daguerrotype  in  posses- 
sion of  his  grandnephew,  H,  T.  Thomas,  New- York  City,    286 


PREFACE. 


HISTORIES  of  Illinois,  valuable  and  interesting,  have 
already  been  written.  It  is  not  because  the  author  un- 
derestimates these  or  would  detract  from  their  importance  that 
he  has  undertaken  the  same  task,  but  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
necting what  in  some  respects  are  merely  fragmentary  accounts, 
contained  in  dusty  volumes,  the  greater  portion  of  which  have 
been  long  since  out  of  print;  of  correcting  or  modifying  many 
previous  statements  in  the  light  of  later  information;  and  of 
presenting  new  facts  and  recent  events  in  such  accessible  form 
and  manner  that  they  may  be  readily  consulted  and  employed 
in  every  field  of  labor,  professional  as  well  as  mercantile,  official 
as  well  as  manual. 

In  its  preparation  every  available  source  of  information  has 
been  utilized.  Public  documents,  official  records,  and  manu- 
scripts have  been  carefully  examined,  compared,  and  verified. 
The  author  has  also  very  largely  drawn  upon  his  own  knowl- 
edge of  what  such  a  work  should  contain,  and  how  it  should 
be  arranged — a  knowledge  derived  from  half  a  century's  resi- 
dence in  the  State,  and  from  a  long  and  varied  experience 
in  the  judicial,  legislative,  and  administrative  departments  of 
public  life. 

The  opinions  expressed  on  public  questions  and  men  are  his 
own,  intended  to  be  free  from  prejudice,  as  they  certainly  are 
uninfluenced  by  patronage  or  subsidies.  Nor  has  he  assumed 
to  be  the  champion  of  any  party,  sect,  or  measure. 

What  was  originally  intended  for  one,  has  grown  into  two 
volumes,  the  second  of  which,  now  nearly  completed,  will  bring 
the  history  down  to  the  date  of  issue. 


i6 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


Among  the  many  who  have  contributed  information  a 
rendered  other  valuable  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  t 
work,  the  author  tenders  his  especial  thanks  to  the  followi 
persons:  Oscar  W.  Collet,  librarian  of  the  Missouri  Historii 
Society,  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  Prof.  John  H.  Woods  of  Jacksonvi' 
111.;  and  Walter  B.  Wines,  LL.B,  of  Chicago. 

In  submitting  his  work — the  result  of  many  years  of  stu 
and  research — to  the  judgment  of  his  fellow-citizens,  the  autl 
is  inspired  with  the  hope  that  it  may  not  be  without 
influence  in  contributing  toward  the  expansion,  elevation,  i 
onward  march  of  the  people  and  institutions  of  the  mig^ 
State  whose  phenomenal  progress  has  been  a  source  of  c 
gratulation  and  pardonable  pride  to  all  her  citizens. 


Chicago,  April  i,  1S89. 


Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical 


INTRODUCTORY. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Extent,  Soil,  Climate,  and  Productions. 

ILLINOIS  is  the  name  given  by  the  French  to  a  confederate 
tribe  of  Indians  and  the  country  which  they  inhabited. 
It  is  derived  from  the  Algonquin  word  Inini,  which  the  French 
pronounced  I  Hint.  It  signified  "  the  men,  perfect  and  accom- 
plished," and,  by  way  of  sharp  antithesis,  implied  that  all  other 
aborigines  were  "mere  beasts."*  The  suffix  ois  is  purely  French, 
and  denotes  tribe.  Hence  the  word  Illinois  may  be  translated 
as  meaning  "  tribe  of  men."  It  was  variously  written  by  early 
French  chroniclers:  Illinoies,  Illmoties,  Tllimomoaek,  Illinezvek, 
Illinizuek,  and  L-in-i-wek;  but  its  definition  has  always  been 
the  same. 

The  general  form  of  the  State  is  that  of  a  truncated  cone, 
extending  from  north  to  south.  Its  boundary  line,  however,  is 
very  irregular,  following  as  it  does  from  its  northwest  corner 
the  windings  of  the  Mississippi,  which  separates  it  from  the 
states  of  Iowa  and  Missouri  on  the  west,  and  which  washes  its 
entire  western  and  southwestern  border.  From  Cairo,  the  line 
follows  the  still  more  tortuous  Ohio,  which  divides  it  from  Ken- 
tucky, to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.  Thence  ascending  this 
river  to  the  meridian  of  Vincennes,  it  follows  a  straight  line, 
separating  it  from  Indiana,  to  Lake  Michigan,  from  which  point 
it  takes  a  turn  east,  along  the  northern  line  of  Indiana,  to  the 
middle  of  Lake  Michigan;  thence  north  along  the  middle  of 
that  lake  to  north  latitude  forty-two  degrees  and  thirty  min- 
utes; thence  west  along  said  line,  which  divides  it  from  Wis- 
consin, to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi.*!* 

*  Marquette,  Hennepin,  et  al. 

t  The  boundaries  of  the  State  are  officially  defined  by  the  Act  of  Congress  of 
2  17 


1 8  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  act  of  Congress,  while  the  juris- 
diction of  the  States  separated  by  the  Mississippi  and  Wabash 
is  concurrent  and  extends  to  the  middle  of  said  rivers,  that  of 
Illinois,  in  regard  to  the  Ohio  River,  is  confined  to  its  north- 
western shore.  The  jurisdiction  of  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wis- 
consin is  also  coordinate  with  their  respective  boundary  lines 
to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan. 

Within  the  above-described  boundaries  there  are  56,000  square 
miles,  or  35,840,000  acres  of  land,  and  650  square  miles  of  water 
surface.  Extending  from  thirty-seven  degrees  to  forty-two 
degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  its  extreme  length  is 
385  miles;  and  its  greatest  breadth,  lying  between  ten  degrees 
and  twenty-five  minutes  and  fourteen  degrees  and  thirty  min- 
utes west  longitude  from  Washington,  is  218  miles. 

The  State  of  Illinois  is  greater  in  extent  than  any  of  the 
original  thirteen  States,  except  Georgia.  It  is  larger  than 
either  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  or  Iowa,  and  em- 
braces a  larger  territory  than  all  of  the  New-England  States 
combined,  exclusive  of  Maine.  It  has  several  counties,  each  of 
which  contains  nearly  as  many  square  miles  as  Rhode  Island, 
while  two  of  them,  McLean  and  LaSalle,  are  larger  than  Dela- 
ware. It  comprises  a  larger  territory  than  England,  or  than 
Denmark  and  Portugal  together,  and  has  more  square  miles 
than  Holland,  Belgium,  and  Switzerland  united. 

There  are  no  mountains  in  Illinois,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  Louisiana  and  perhaps  Delaware,  it  is  the  most  level  State 
in  the  Union.  Cairo  is  but  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  county  of  Jo  Daviess,  where  th( 
State  attains  its  greatest  altitude,  is  barely  eight  hundred  anc 
twenty  feet  higher.  From  this  elevation  in  the  northern  portion 
of  the  State  there  is  a  gradual  descent  to  the  valley  of  the  Big- 
Muddy  River  in  Jackson  County,  where  there  is  a  rapid   rise 

April  18,  1818,  enabling  the  people  thereof  to  form  a  state  government,  as  follows: 
"  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  River,  thence  up  the  same,  and  with 
the  line  of  Indiana,  to  the  northwestern  corner  of  said  State;  thence  east  with  the 
line  of  the  same  State  to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan;  thenee  north  along  the 
middle  of  said  lake  to  north  latitude  forty-two  degrees  and  thirty  minutes;  thence 
west  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  thence  down  along  the  middle 
of  that  river  to  its  confluence  with  the  Ohio  River,  and  thence  up  this  latter  river 
along  its  northwestern  shore  to  the  beginning." 


INTRODUCTORY — SURFACE.  19 

until  a  hilly,  broken  ridge  is  reached,  which  extends  to  the 
extreme  eastern  portion  of  the  State. 

The  general  surface  of  the  country  inclines  to  the  southwest, 
in  which  direction  slope  the  water-shed  and  interior  drainage. 
There  are  no  lakes*  in  Illinois,  but  the  best  maps  show  that  it 
is  watered  by  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  streams,  great  and 
small  ;f  and  while  many  of  the  largest  of  them  have  been 
declared  by  law  to  be  navigable,  only  the  Illinois  River  has 
been  of  any  practical  use  for  that  purpose. 

The  Illinois  River  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  DesPlaines 
and  Kankakee,  which  unite  at  a  point  near  the  boundary  line 
dividing  the  counties  of  Will  and  Grundy.  The  head-waters  of 
the  former  of  these  two  streams  are  in  Wisconsin,  near  Lake 
Geneva,  and  its  general  course  is  southerly.  The  Kankakee 
rises  in  Indiana  and  flows  westerly  to  the  point  of  confluence. 
The  course  of  the  Illinois  is  at  first  nearly  due  west  to  Bureau 
County,  thence  southwesterly  in  a  diagonal  line  to  a  point  in 
Scott  County,  thence  south  until,  after  having  traversed  the 
State  for  five  hundred  miles,  it  empties  itself  into  the  Missis- 
sippi at  Grafton,  forty  miles  above  St.  Louis. 

Among  the  other  principal  streams  in  the  State  may  be 
mentioned  the  following:  Rock  River,  which  rises  in  Wisconsin, 
flows  southwesterly  about  three  hundred  miles,  and  joins  the 
Mississippi  just  below  the  upper  rapids,  near  Rock  Island;  the 
Kaskaskia,  or  Okaw  as  it  has  been  sometimes  called,  rises 
near  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  State  in  Champaign  County, 
and  flowing  also  to  the  southwest,  enters  the  Mississippi  at 
Chester,  six  miles  below  the  ancient  village  of  Kaskaskia;  the 
Sangamon,  a  branch  of  the  Illinois,  has  its  rise  also  in  Cham- 
paign County;  the  Fox,  Vermilion,  and  Spoon  rivers  are  also 
tributaries  of  the  Illinois,  as  is  the  Pecatonica  of  Rock  River 
and  the  Iroquois  of  the  Vermilion;  while  the  Embarras  and 
Little  Wabash  contribute  their  quota  to  swell  the  waters  of 
the  Wabash. 

The  general  surface  of  the  State  rises  from  its  bottom  lands 

*  There  are  numbers  of  small  bodies  of  water  in  the  State,  especially  in  Lake 
County,  and  on  river  bottoms,  called  lakes,  that  are  not  properly  entitled  to  the 
name. 

+  Porter's  "The  West." 


20  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

in  wooded  cliffs  or  bluffs  from  fifty  to  four  hundred  feet  in 
height.  From  these  extend  its  beautifully  undulating  and 
diversified  treeless  meadows,  called,  by  the  French,  prairies. 
They  first  appear  in  Northwestern  Ohio,  and  increasing  in 
dimensions  through  Indiana,  become  so  wide  and  extensive  in 
Illinois  as  to  give  it  the  name  of  the  Prairie  State. 

As  seen  by  the  first  explorers,  the  forest  covered  the  entire 
country  around  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers, 
but  as  these  diverged  from  each  other  the  prairie  began  to  inter- 
vene. At  first  only  an  occasional  savannah,  as  the  English 
called  them,  appeared,  but  proceeding  northward  the  timber 
gradually  diminished  and  the  prairies  enlarged,  until,  arriving 
at  the  centre  of  the  State,  the  continuous  prairie  from  its  east- 
ern to  its  western  boundary  was  only  broken  by  narrow  strips 
of  timber  on  the  Vermilion,  the  Sangamon,  and  Illinois  rivers, 
and  their  tributaries.  And  from  Washington  County  the  pion- 
eer could  travel  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles  to  .the  Wis- 
consin line  without  encountering  so  much  as  five  miles  of 
timber.* 

The  native  prairies  presented  themselves  to  the  early  ex- 
plorers and  settlers  as  marvels  of  beauty  and  design,  as  inex- 
plicable as  they  were  enchanting.  Their  attractive  features 
consisted  not  only  in  their  rich  carpet  of  verdure  and  flowers, 
but  in  their  bewildering  extent,  their  undulating  surface,  their 
mysterious  paths,  and  their  occasional  groves,  like  islands  in 
the  sea. 

In  the  spring,  the  first  coat  of  grass,  sprouting  up  from  the 
charred  remains  of  autumn  fires,  was  mingled  with  the  violet 
and  other  smaller  flowers  of  the  most  minute  and  delicate  tex- 
ture, whose  natural  beauty  no  handiwork  of  man's  cultivation 
could  improve.  As  the  stronger  grass  increased  in  size,  these 
were  succeeded  by  others  of  a  larger  growth  and  more  gaudy 
appearance,  displaying  their  brilliant  colors  in  striking  contrast 
to  the  green  surface.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a  more  infi- 
nite diversity  or  a  richer  profusion  of  hues.  In  the  summer, 
the  wild  prairie  was  covered  with  a  long,  coarse  grass,  which 
later  assumed  a. golden  hue,  and  in  the  rich,  wet  soil,  fanned  by 
the  winds  and  kissed  by  the  sun,  grew  to  the  height  of  eight 

*  Beckwith's  "Vermilion  County." 


INTRODUCTORY — SURFACE.  21 

or  nine  feet,  throwing  out  long,  coarse  leaves  which  reached 
above  the  head  of  the  traveler  on  horseback. 

The  prairies  of  Illinois  differ  from  those  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi in  this,  that  while  the  former  possess  a  uniform  fertility, 
the  latter,  as  they  ascend  toward  the  Rocky  Mountains,  gradu- 
ally become  less  fertile  until  a  region  of  drouth  and  barrenness 
is  reached,  rendering  them  comparatively  valueless. 

Inviting  as  were  the  prairies  for  agricultural  purposes,  the 
first  settlers  were  afraid  of  them — of  their  lack  of  shade  and 
water,  and  of  their  pestiferous  flies.  And  when,  finding  that 
they  improved  upon  acquaintance,  they  ventured  to  locate  upon 
them,  they  selected  the  highest  situations,  shunning  the  low, 
wet  grounds  which,  in  some  portions  of  the  State,  have  in  late 
years  most  richly  repaid  the  labor  of  the  farmer. 

An  interesting  inquiry  respecting  the  origin  of  the  prairies 
has  engaged  the  attention  and  research  of  many  learned  writers. 
The  theories  advanced,  all  of  them  more  or  less  speculative, 
need  not  be  referred  to  here;  suffice  it  to  say,  that  whether  due 
to  the  action  of  water  or  fire,  or  of  both  these  elements — the 
one  to  form  and  the  other  to  preserve  them — they  furnished  to 
the  hardy  pioneer  of  the  West  the  finest  body  of  farm  lands, 
ready-made  as  it  were,  upon  which  the  sun  ever  shone. 

Those  large  districts  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  State 
which  were  densely  covered  with  forest  trees  and  heavy  belts 
of  timber,  extending  along  the  banks  and  filling  the  areas 
between  the  forks  of  rivers  and  creeks,  when  the  white  man 
first  entered  the  territory,  have  been  gradually  yielding  to  the 
ax  and  plow.  But  so  many  groves  have  been  planted,  and  so 
many  orchards  and  hedges  now  cover  the  ground  where  for- 
merly were  only  grass  and  weeds,  that  it  has  been  claimed  with 
great  plausibility  that  the  leaf  surface  of  the  State  is  larger 
now  than  ever  before.* 

The  proportion  of  woodland  to  prairie  in  1880  was  estimated 
as  follows:  in  the  twenty-three  northern  counties,  seven  per 
cent;  in  the  district  extending  from  the  Illinois  River  below 
Ottawa  to  the  Mississippi,  twenty-one-counties,  fifteen  per  cent; 
in  the  Grand-Prairie  district,  east  of  this  last,  seventeen  counties 
in  the  eastern-central  portion  of  the  State,  six  per  cent;  in  the 

*  Gov.  Reynolds,  W.  C.  Flagg,  etc. 


22  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Centralia  district  south  of  this,  between  the  Wabash  River  and 
the  Illinois- Central  Railroad,  seventeen  counties,  twenty-four 
per  cent,  in  the  Kaskaskia  district,  thirteen  counties,  twenty- 
one  per  cent;  and  in  the  eleven  remaining  counties,  the  grand 
chain  district,  twenty-seven  per  cent* 

While  among  the  states  of  which  Illinois  is  the  centre,  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  the  soil  contains  many  elements  common  to 
all,  yet  certain  distinctive  peculiarities  belong  to  each.  While 
some  of  the  adjoining  states  possess  a  greater  proportion  of 
prairie  and  others  of  timber,  there  is  no  other  country  of  the 
same  extent  on  the  face  of  the  globe  which  can  boast  of  a  soil 
so  uniformly  distributed  over  so  large  a  territory,  and  so  uni- 
versally productive  as  that  of  Illinois. 

The  subsoil  over  a  large  portion  of  the  State  is  usually  a 
yellow  clay,  but  in  some  of  the  northern  counties  it  is  gravel, 
and  occasionally  in  the  Grand-Prairie  region  it  is  of  blue  clay. 
The  river- bluffs  are  more  or  less  covered  with  a  silicious 
deposit  called  loess,  of  uniform  character  and  sometimes  of 
great  thickness.  The  surface  soil  is  mainly  formed  of  deposits 
of  drift  from  more  northern  latitudes,  varying  from  ten  to  two 
hundred  feet  in  depth,  overlaid  with  rich  black  loam  from  ten 
to  fifty  inches  thick.  It  is  the  product  of  finely  comminuted 
limestones,  sandstones,  and  shales,  mingled  with  organic,  vegeta- 
ble, and  animal  mould  left  by  the  dead  herds  and  unknown 
harvests  of  countless  centuries.-f*  In  the  north  it  is  coarser  and 
more  open;  in  the  south,  finer  and  cleaner,  which  renders  the 
plants  in  this  soil  less  liable  to  damage  from  extreme  dry  cold 
or  dry  heat.  Hence  the  greater  certainty  of  winter-wheat  as 
a  crop  in  southern  Illinois. 

Beside  this  general  variation,  there  are  important  local  differ- 
ences. The  soil  of  the  river  bottoms  is  alluvial,  and  is  practi- 
cally inexhaustible.  Some  tracts  of  land  on  the  American 
Bottom,  which  stretches  from  Alton  to  Kaskaskia,  have  been  in 
cultivation  for  over  a  century  without  perceptible  deterioration. 
The  river-bluffs  composing  the  loess  formation,  as  at  Alton, 
Quincy,  Warsaw,  and  other  points,  are  specially  adapted  to 
fruit-culture  and  the  production  of  a  fine  quality  of  vegetables. 

*  Illinois  Horticultural  and  U.-S.  Special  Census  Reports. 
+  Porter's  "The  West." 


INTRODUCTORY — PRODUCTIONS.  23 

Resulting  from  the  peculiarities  of  soil,  the  midland  coun- 
ties of  Morgan,  Sangamon,  Menard,  Macon,  Tazewell,  etc.,  have 
proved  best  suited  of  the  upland  regions  for  corn-culture;  while 
Madison,  St.  Clair,  Monroe,  Randolph,  etc.,  lead  in  winter-wheat. 
In  the  Grand  Prairie  there  is  a  wide  tract  of  country  lying  at 
the  source  of  a  radiation  of  rivers,  and  apparently  only  lately 
left  uncovered  by  water,  in  which  there  is  found  a  peaty  char- 
acter in  the  fertile  soil.  The  fiat  prairies  in  the  counties  of 
Clinton,  Marion,  Washington,  etc.,  develop  another  condition  of 
the  soil.  Still  farther  south,  in  the  hills  of  the  grand  chain, 
appears  another  variety  on  which  is  found  the  tulip  tree,  the 
beech,  and  other  forest  growths,  unknown  elsewhere  in  the 
State.  Here  are  grown  some  of  the  finest  varieties  of  fruit 
which  the  State  produces.  Everywhere,  also,  the  prairie  differs 
from  the  forest  soil  in  the  same  locality.  The  former  is  usually 
darker,  more  crude,  and  coarser  than  the  latter.  But  these 
differences,  more  or  less,  disappear  with  improved  cultivation 
and  drainage.* 

But  the  lands  of  Illinois  possess  a  twofold  and  sometimes  a 
threefold  value — not  only  for  the  unexcelled  productions  of 
the  surface,  but  for  what  is  found  a  few  feet  below  it.  The 
first-recorded  evidence  of  the  discovery  of  coal  in  the  United 
States  is  that  of  Father  Hennepin,  near  Ottawa,  in  Illinois, 
made  in  the  exploring  expedition  of  LaSalle  in  1679.  It  is 
now  estimated  that  of  the  195,407  square  miles  of  coal  area  in 
the  United  States,  Illinois  has  36,800,  embracing  two-thirds  of 
the  entire  State.  The  coal  measures  may  be  divided  into  six 
principal  seams  of  workable  coal,  ranging  from  two  and  three 
feet  in  thickness  to  seven  feet,  which  are  found  at  a  depth  vary- 
ing from  a  few  feet  to  eight  hundred.  The  most  valuable  mines 
for  commercial  purposes  now  being  worked  are  those  in  the 
vicinity  of  Belleville,  Springfield,  Braidwood,  LaSalle,  Peoria, 
and  in  Jackson  County. 

Just  above,  as  well  as  beneath,  these  seams  of  coal  are  found, 
in  many  localities,  thick  beds  of  superior  fire-clay,  the  manu- 
factures from  which,  together  with  those  from  potters-clay, 
which  is  found  in  nearly  every  county,  are  yearly  increasing  in 
value  and  importance.     In  Pope  and   Hardin  counties  is  found 

*  Prof.  Worthen,  \V.  C.  Flagg,  in  Agricultural  Reports. 


24  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

the  Kaolin  clay,  from  which  is  manufactured  the  finest  kind 
of  porcelain. 

In  various  portions  of  the  State  there  are  also  valuable  quar- 
ries of  limestone,  both  of  the  upper  and  lower  Silurian  forma- 
tion. The  most  extensive  of  these,  called  the  Niagara  lime- 
stone, are  at  Joliet,  from  which  was  furnished  the  material  for 
the  construction  of  the  State  capitol  at  Springfield,  the  hospital 
for  the  insane  at  Kankakee,  and  some  of  the  finest  structures 
in  Chicago.  The  same  formation  is  found  also  at  Grafton, 
where  was  quarried  the  stone  for  building  the  St.  Louis  bridge. 
Nauvoo  furnishes  the  Keokuk  limestone,  from  which  the  cus- 
tom-house at  Galena  and  the  post-office  at  Springfield  were 
constructed.  Sagetown,  in  Henderson  County,  furnishes  the 
Burlington  limestone,  from  which  the  court-house  at  Monmouth 
was  built.  In  Adams  County,  the  same  variety  occurs,  and  is 
used  not  only  for  buildings  but  also  for  culverts,  and  for  the 
manufacture  of  a  fine  quality  of  lime.  The  Alton  beds,  called 
the  St.  Louis  limestone,  are  used  for  building,  but  more  exten- 
sively in  lime-making.  At  Chester,  are  found  not  only  lime, 
but  a  superior  quality  of  sandstone,  from  which  the  peniten- 
tiary is  built.  The  Galena  limestone,  found  in  the  northwestern 
portion  of  the  State,  is  also  used  for  both  buildings  and  lime. 
In  Alexander  County  there  is  found  the  Trenton  limestone, 
equivalent  to  the  Cape  Giradeau  marble. 

A  heavy  bed  of  sandstone  is  extensively  worked  near  Rosa 
Clare,  on  the  Ohio  River;  and  in  the  same  vicinity  there 
is  an  outcrop  of  the  celebrated  Bedford  limestone.  In  Scott 
and  other  river  counties,  are  also  found  the  Burlington,  Keokuk, 
and  St.  Louis  groups;  and  in  the  former  and  Hancock  counties, 
a  sandstone  is  found  which  dresses  beautifully  and  makes  a 
fine-appearing  and  durable  building.  At  Ottawa  is  found  the 
St.  Peter's  sandstone,  which  is  used  there  for  glass;  the  same 
formation  appearing  at  Cape  au  Gris,  from  which  the  Alton 
glass-works  obtain  their  supplies;  and  also  on  Rock  River  at 
Grand  de  Tour.  A  quarry  of  magnesian  limestone  is  found  at 
Utica,  in  LaSalle  County,  which  is  extensively  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  hydraulic  cement. 

Beds  of  peat  are  also  found  in  northern  Illinois,  the  most 
extensive  of  which  are  in  Whiteside  County,  where  they  are 


INTRODUCTORY — CLIMATE.  25 

from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  thick.  Veins  of  lead  are  confined  to 
Jo  Daviess  County  in  the  northern  and  Pope  and  Hardin  coun- 
ties in  the  southern  portions  of  the  State.  In  connection  with 
lead-ore  is  worked  also  fluor-spar,  which  is  ground  and  used  in 
fluxing  refractory  ores.  Iron,  which  is  only  found  in  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  State,  does  not  appear  in  regular  beds,  and 
has  not  as  yet  been  much  worked. 

The  State  of  Illinois  extends,  as  before  stated,  from  420  30' 
north  latitude  a  little  over  five  and  one-half  degrees  south,  and 
from  io°  25'  west  longitude  from  Washington  four  degrees  and 
five  minutes  west.  The  northern  portion  of  the  State  is  in  the 
same  latitude  as  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut;  the  middle, 
as  that  of  the  lower  half  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and 
northern  half  of  Maryland;  the  southern  as  that  of  Virginia. 

But  the  climate  of  a  country  does  not  altogether  depend 
upon  its  relative  distance  from  the  equator  or  from  Washington. 
It  is  modified  by  its  height  above  and  distance  from  the  sea,  by 
the  nature  of  its  surface,  the  proportion  of  humidity,  its  prox- 
imity to  lakes  and  mountains,  its  distance  from  arid  or  frozen 
plains  and  atmospheric  and  oceanic  currents.*  Thus  the  Gulf 
Stream,  extending  into  the  waters  which  wash  Western  Europe, 
causes  a  higher  temperature  there  than  in  the  same  latitude  in 
any  other  quarter  of  the  globe.  The  mean  temperature  of 
Western  Europe  at  400  north  latitude  is  65. 500  F,  while  in 
North  America  it  is  54.11°.  These  differences  are  manifested 
when  places  having  the  same  mean  temperature  are  connected 
by  what  Humboldt  denominates  isothermal  lines.  The  mean 
temperature  of  London,  which  lies  at  51°  31'  north  latitude,  is 
50.300,  while  that  of  Philadelphia,  which  is  at  390  56',  is  52.100. 
Continents  and  large  islands  are  warmer  on  their  western  than 
on  their  eastern  sides,  so  that  as  we  advance  from  the  Atlantic 
slope  to  the  interior  the  summers  become  warmer  and  the 
winters  colder.f  The  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  on  the  sea- 
board become  still  more  apparent  on  the  prairies  of  the  West, 
thus  showing  the  effect  of  the  earth's  radiation  over  vast  sur- 
faces remote  from  the  sea  and  deprived  of  forest  belts. | 

*  "Encyclopedia  of  Geography, "  by  Hugh  Murray.     Amer.  ed.,  Vol.  I. 

t  Humboldt. 

J  Foster's  "Mississippi  Valley,"  page  181. 


26  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

While  Illinois,  with  other  states  in  the  great  basin  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  has  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west  and 
the  Appalachian  range  on  the  east,  no  great  barrier  is  presented 
to  arrest  the  hot,  southerly  winds  of  summer  or  the  cold,  north- 
erly blasts  of  winter.  Not  only  is  the  climate  of  Illinois  modi- 
fied by  its  distance  from  the  sea  and  mountains,  but  it  is  also 
materially  influenced  by  the  trade-winds  which  blow  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  between  May  and  October,  to  which  may  be, 
perhaps,  mainly  attributed  the  sub-tropical  character  of  the 
summers  in  the  southern  and  middle  portions  of  the  State; 
while  the  unhindered  winds  from  the  bleak  Northwest,  accom- 
panied by  an  extraordinary  depression  of  temperature,  produce 
our  almost  Arctic  winters. 

The  annexed  table*  of  mean  annual  temperatures,  made  up 
from  a  series  of  observations,  which  agree  with  reports  to  the 
State  Department  of  Agriculture,  shows  that  the  general  aver- 
age for  the  entire  State  is  50.650,  or  480  in  the  northern  half  of 
the  State  and  5  6°  in  the  southern.  That  of  New  York  is  480; 
Pennsylvania,  540;  Ohio,  53°;  Indiana  and  Kansas,  51°;  Mis- 
souri, 550;  and  Iowa,  490. 

Lat.     Alt.  feet.  Spring.    Summer.  Autumn.    Winter.      Mean. 

Chicago,  41.45  600  43.55  66.76  48.32  24.78  45.85 

Peoria,  40.43  512  50.63  74.45  52.94  27.40  51.36 

Springfield,  39.48  550  48.37  74.02  48.94  27.62  49.74 

Manchester,  39.31  6St,  51.16  73.90  53.34  28.86  51.82 

Highland,  38.44  620  56.55  77.69  56.60  34.13  56.24 

From  a  paper  prepared  by  Prof.  Cyrus  Thomas,  State  ento- 
mologist, the  following  facts  in  regard  to  the  rainfall  in  the  State 
are  obtained:  "For  the  period  extending  from  1840  to  1877, 
inclusive,  the  average  annual  rainfall  was  38.30  inches.  Divided 
into  sections  of  seven  years,  the  several  averages  were  found  to 
be  as  follows:  1842  to  1848,  41.37  inches;  1849  to  1855,39.12 
inches;  1856  to  1862,  36.04  inches;  1863  to  1869,  37.26  inches; 
1870  to  1877,  35.82  inches."  From  which  statement  and  table 
it  appears  that  while  there  has  been  a  decrease  of  rainfall,  there 
has  also  been  a  small  increase  in  temperature.-f* 

*  "Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge."     By  A.  C.  Schott. 
+  Foster's  "Physical  Geography  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  p.  191. 


INTRODUCTORY — CLIMATE.  27 

Springfield,  the  capital  of  the  State,  is  on  the  same  parallel 
of  latitude  as  Philadelphia  in  the  new,  and  Lisbon  in  the  old, 
world.  It  lies  south  of  Madrid,  Venice,  Constantinople,  and 
Rome.  It  is  six  hundred  miles  south  of  Paris  and  eight  hun- 
dred miles  nearer  the  equator  than  London;  and  while  the 
mean  temperature  of  the  State  is  about  the  same  as  that  of 
England,  its  summers  are  those  of  Italy  and  the  south  of 
France,  while  its  winters  are  like  those  of  Sweden  or  Northern 
Germany.  But  happily  the  winters,  kept  back  by  the  long, 
delightful  autumns  and  cut  short  by  the  early  approach  of 
warm  weather,  are  not  of  long  duration. 

While  the  mean  temperature,  from  observations  covering 
many  years,  is  found  to  vary  but  little — the  greatest  difference 
being  only  3.5S0  in  1843 — the  particular  seasons  are  variable. 
A  cold  winter  is  often  succeeded  by  an  early  spring,  and  two 
cold,  snowy  winters  rarely  succeed  each  other;  while  an  unusu- 
ally wet  spring  is  generally  followed  by  a  dry  fall. 

The  winter  of  1830-1,  which  has  become  famous  in  the  cli- 
matic history  of  the  State,  particularly  in  Central  Illinois,  where 
it  constitutes  an  epoch  in  the  memory  of  the  early  settlers,  has 
long  been  known  as  the  "winter  of  the  deep  snow."  The  storm 
began  in  the  latter  part  of  November,  and  the  snow  continued 
to  fall,  with  but  brief  intermissions,  until  January.  Then  there 
came  a  cold  rain  which  froze  as  it  fell,  forming  a  crust  of  ice; 
and  then  again  came  the  snow;  and  after  that  a  continuous 
blast  of  cold  winds  from  the  north,  lasting  over  two  weeks. 
Although  there  was  only  an  average  fall  of  from  three  to  four 
feet  on  the  level,  in  some  places,  where  it  had  drifted,  the  banks 
were  seven  feet  in  depth,  covering  fences  and  filling  up  lanes- 
Add  to  this  unprecedented  snowfall  the  very  low  temperature, 
with  the  Borean  tempest  from  the  north,  and  the  fact  that  the 
people  generally  who  then  inhabited  the  State  had  never  expe- 
rienced anything  of  the  kind,  and  were  wholly  unprepared  for 
it,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  believe  the  stories  of  the  suffering 
and  destitution  which  its  prolonged  visitation  entailed. 

Nearly  all  kinds  of  game  were  destroyed,  especially  deer, 
which  were  unable  to  run  in  the  snow  and  fell  an  easy  prey  to 
the  hunter  and  his  dogs.  The  corn  not  gathered  and  the  wheat 
from  the  buried  stack  had  to  be  dug  out  of  the  snow  for  food; 


28  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  roads  cut  through  the  drift  to  the  distant  mills.  Stock 
perished  for  want  of  sustenance.  But  as  no  one  then  lived 
very  far  from  timber,  fire- wood  was  close  at  hand,  though 
hauled  with  great  difficulty;  and  the  old-fashioned  fireplace 
was  never  without  its  cheerful  blaze  until  the  snow  began  to 
disappear,  early  in  March.  In  the  towns,  after  the  roads  were 
made,  the  people  enjoyed  the  splendid  sleighing  which  lasted 
nearly  three  months. 

While  the  average  temperature  in  winter  is  29. 260,  cold 
"snaps"  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  On  February  15,  1876, 
the  thermometer  fell  at  Beardstown  to  26°  below  zero,  and  on 
January  28,  1873,  it  fell  to  400  below  throughout  the  central 
and  northern  portions  of  the  State.  With  the  snow  in  some 
places  sixteen  inches  deep,  this  was  the  coldest  day  ever  known 
in  Illinois. 

On  the  other  hand,  periods  of  extreme  heat  have  been  expe- 
rienced, rivalling  that  of  the  torrid  zone.  One  of  the  most 
marked  of  these  was  the  14th,  15th,  16th,  and  17th  days  of  July, 
1887,  when  the  thermometer  registered  above  ioo°  nearly  all 
over  the  State,  and  on  the  last-named  day  1030  at  Springfield, 
1040  at  Galesburg,  and  1000  at  the  signal-service  station  in 
Chicago,  being  the  hottest  day  of  record  in  that  city. 

Not  more  remarkable  is  the  climate  of  Illinois  on  account  of 
its  variableness,  than  for  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  to 
which  it  is  subject,  the  most  memorable  of  which  occurred  in 
the  central  and  northern  parts  of  the  State,  December  20,  1836. 
Several  inches  of  snow  had  fallen  on  that  day,  and  it  was  warm 
enough  for  rain  to  fall  in  the  forenoon,  which  melted  the  snow 
into  slush  and  water.  At  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  it 
began  to  grow  dark,  from  a  heavy,  black  cloud  which  was  seen 
in  the  northwest.  Almost  instantly  the  strong  wind,  traveling 
at  the  rate  of  seventy  miles  an  hour,  accompanied  by  a  deep, 
bellowing  sound,  with  its  icy  blast,  swept  over  the  land,  and 
everything  was  frozen  hard.  The  water  of  the  little  ponds  in 
the  roads  froze  in  waves,  sharp  edged  and  pointed,  as  the  gale 
had  blown  it.  The  chickens,  pigs,  and  other  small  animals 
were  frozen  in  their  tracks.  Wagon  wheels,  ceasing  to  roll, 
froze  to  the  ground.  Men,  going  to  their  barns  or  fields  a  short 
distance  from  their  houses,  in  slush  and  water,  returned  a  few 


INTRODUCTORY — CLIMATE.  29 

minutes  later  walking  on  the  ice.*  Those  caught  out  on  horse- 
back were  frozen  to  their  saddles,  and  had  to  be  lifted  off  and 
carried  to  the  fire  to  be  thawed  apart.  Two  young  men  were 
frozen  to  death  near  Rushville.  One  of  them  was  found  sitting 
with  his  back  against  a  tree,  with  his  horse's  bridle  over  his 
arm  and  his  horse  frozen  in  front  of  him.  The  other  was  partly 
in  a  kneeling  position,  with  a  tinder-box  in  one  hand  and  a  flint 
in  the  other,  with  both  eyes  open,  as  if  intent  on  trying  to  strike 
a  light.  Many  other  casualties  were  reported.  As  to  the  exact 
temperature,  however,  no  instrument  has  left  any  record;  but 
the  ice  was  frozen  in  the  streams,  as  variously  reported,  from 
six  inches  to  a  foot  in  thickness  in  a  few  hours. 

Such  sudden,  violent,  and  extreme  changes,  such  abrupt  rising 
and  falling  of  the  mercury,  however,  are  so  exceptional  as  to  be 
remarkable.  It  is  to  this  extreme  range  of  climate,  neverthe- 
less, during  the  growing  season,  that  we  are  indebted  for  our 
superiority  in  the  cultivation  of  many  trees,  plants,  and  fruits, 
the  most  useful  to  man;  of  corn  in  its  native  soil,  and  of  those 
indispensable  cereals,  wheat,  rye,  and  oats,  which,  indigenous  to 
the  dry  plains  of  Central  Asia,  find  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois  a 
soil  and  climate  partaking  of  the  same  nature,  yet  on  which 
they  attain  a  higher  degree  of  perfection  as  regards  growth 
and  yield. 

While  the  climate  of  Illinois — although  far  from  being  ideal 
— presents  many  features  commonly  supposed  to  be  character- 
istic of  climes  better  favored  geographically,  the  level  surface 
of  the  State  has,  from  an  early  period,  rendered  it  peculiarly 
liable  to  the  visitation  of  those  violent  storms,  whose  anger 
may  be  traced  to  disturbing  influences  of  either  an  atmospheric 
or  electric  nature,  which  have  marked  their  relentless  pathway 
with  death  and  desolation.  To  the  citizen  who  is  unwilling  to 
admit  the  inferiority  of  Illinois  in  any  particular,  it  may  be  a 
source  of  gratification  to  know  that  the  record  of  the  State  in 
this  respect  is  second  to  none,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Iowa. 

The  first  destructive  hurricane  of  which  there  is  any  histori- 
cal mention  is  that  which  occurred  on  June  5,  1805.  The  storm 
moved  from  the  southwest  toward  the  northeast,  crossing  the 

*  Judge  Blodgett  and  S.  Woods  of  Morgan  County. 


30  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Mississippi  just  below  the  Merrimac  River.  It  swept  across  the 
American  Bottom,  cutting  a  swath  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  in  width,  demolishing  houses,  tearing  up  trees,  and  destroy- 
ing cattle,  stock,  and  everything  movable  in  its  tempestuous 
pathway.  It  swept  the  water  out  of  the  lakes,  scattering  the 
fish  therein  far  out  upon  the  prairies.  It  carried  in  its  wrathful 
embrace,  the  tops  of  pine  trees  from  Missouri,  fifty  miles  away. 
No  lives  were  lost,  but  several  persons  were  severely  wounded 
by  flying  rails  and  timbers.* 

Among  the  most  extensive  of  these  tornadoes  of  late  years 
the  following  are  noteworthy:  That  which  crossed  the  Mis- 
sissippi at  East  St.  Louis,  March  8,  187 1,  and  continued  in  a 
northeasterly  direction,  with  great  violence,  as  far  as  Sangamon 
County.  A  very  destructive  storm  coming  from  the  southwest 
swept  over  Mt.  Carmel,  at  3.20  p.m.,  on  June  4,  1877.  Its  path 
was  about  two  hundred  feet  wide.  Seventeen  persons  were 
killed  and  over  one  hundred  wounded  and  maimed.  Nearly 
one  hundred  houses  were  totally  wrecked,  including  the  court- 
house,— the  loss  of  property  being  estimated  at  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  dollars. 

But  what  in  many  respects  was  the  most  terrible  of  these 
dread  visitants  was  that  which  occurred  May  18,  1883.  This 
storm  had  its  rise  in  the  vicinity  of  Springfield,  Missouri,  and 
extended  nearly  to  Chicago.  In  its  whirling,  ruthless  course  it 
touched  the  earth  at  forty  different  points,  and  at  each  contact 
its  descent  was  marked  by  the  destruction  of  property  and 
loss  of  life.  But  it  was  not  until  it  reached  Morgan  County  in 
this  State,  toward  which  it  manifested  a  special  animosity,  that 
its  uncurbed  powers  were  fully  displayed.  Striking  Greasy 
Prairie,  south  of  Jacksonville,  about  six  o'clock  p.m.,  it  literally 
wiped  out  everything  that  stood  in  its  way,  and  then,  proceed- 
ing on  its  course,  came  down  again  at  Round  Prairie,  in 
Sangamon  County,  marking  its  contact  with  the  earth  there  by 
equal  violence  and  devastation.  At  both  of  these  places  many 
lives  were  lost.  The  storm -fiend  here  casting  a  backward 
glance  over  its  pathway,  as  if  not  satisfied  with  its  work  of 
ruin  and  desolation,  gathered  back  on  its  course  and  again 
broke  out   with  increased   fury  about   five  miles   northwest  of 

*  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  2d  Ed.,  p.  347. 


INTRODUCTORY — TORNADOES.  3 1 

Jacksonville,  having  for  its  objective  point  the  inoffensive  vil- 
lage of  Literberry. 

The  day  was  unusually  warm  for  the  season,  and  a  high 
southwesterly  wind  had  prevailed  from  early  morning,  reaching 
its  greatest  velocity  about  four  p.m.,  when  there  was  a  slight 
fall  of  rain,  accompanied  by  thunder  and  lightning.  The  omi- 
nous, funnel-shaped  cloud  was  first  descried  about  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  It  projected  far  below  the  clouds  which  accom- 
panied it,  and  was  in  a  state  of  violent  agitation,  its  rotary 
movement  being  plainly  discernible.  Its  lower  extremity  rose 
and  fell  and  swayed  from  side  to  side  in  irregular  alternations; 
its  motion  was  frightfully  rapid,  and  it  was  soon  lost  to  sight  as 
it  pursued  its  northeastern  course.  At  first  its  work  of  devasta- 
tion was  confined  to  fences  and  fields,  but  as  its  track  became 
wider  it  gathered  strength  and  fury.  The  first  occupied  house 
which  it  encountered  was  a  two-story  frame  dwelling,  which  it 
lifted  from  its  foundation  and  deposited  some  distance  to  the 
northwest,  leaving  two  other  buildings,  one  on  either  side,  with- 
in a  short  distance  of  each  other,  entirely  undisturbed.  The 
width  of  its  swath  at  this  time  was  about  ten  rods.  Subse- 
quently its  path  was  widened,  and  the  circular  motion,  charac- 
teristic of  cyclones,  was  more  pronounced  as  was  evidenced  by 
the  rending  of  trees  and  fences  and  the  hurfing  of  the  frag- 
ments in  opposite  directions. 

As  the  cloud,  now  balloon  shaped,  approached  the  fated 
village,  its  madness  and  rage  increased.  A  roaring,  likened  by 
a  veteran  soldier  to  the  booming  of  artillery,  and  a  hissing 
sound,  as  of  escaping  steam,  accompanied  the  black  monster, 
while  its  upper  portion  was  illuminated  with  continuous  flashes 
of  lightning,  and  balls  and  sparks  of  fire.  Large  hailstones  fell 
from  it,  together  with  portions  of  the  debris  which  it  had  gath- 
ered in  its  destructive  folds.  Houses,  fences,  implements,  trees, 
and  entire  orchards  crumbled  at  its  touch,  and  were  scattered 
and  thrown  in  every  conceivable  direction.  A  building  would 
be  torn  to  pieces  and  thrown  to  the  north,  while  its  contents 
would  go  to  the  south.  Trees  were  pulled  up  by  the  roots,  and 
some  of  them,  two  feet  thick,  twisted  off  a  few  feet  from  the 
ground;  growing  wheat  was  leveled  to  the  ground  in  some 
fields  as  close  as  if  cut  by  a  reaper,  and  in  others  the  stalks 


32  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

were  bent  to  the  ground,  flattened,  and  covered  by  a  thick 
deposit  of  mud,  evenly  spread  out;  corn-cribs  were  blown  away 
out  of  sight,  while  their  contents  were  left  unhoused  in  heaps. 
Twenty-two  houses,  fourteen  of  them  in  Literberry,  occupied 
by  sixty-four  adults  and  forty-four  children,  stood  directly  in 
the  tornado's  path,  all  of  which  were  shattered,  and  their  con- 
tents scattered  to  the  four  "winds.  Ten  persons  were  killed  and 
twenty-four  injured  in  various  degrees. 

The  freaks  of  this  storm  were,  more  numerous  and  astonish- 
ing than  those  of  any  other  heretofore  known.  The  feathered 
occupants  of  the  barn-yard  were  rudely  lifted  from  their  perches 
and,  after  being  carried  for  a  brief  space  in  the  cloud,  were 
dropped  upon  the  ground  as  bare  of  feathers  as  though  they 
had  been  picked  and  singed  by  the  housewife  for  the  next  day's 
dinner.  Freight- cars  standing  "upon  the  railroad  tracks  were 
raised  high  from  the  ground  and  their  boxes  carried  six  hun- 
dred feet  away,  while  their  wheels  and  trucks  were  strewn 
broadcast  over  the  fields  in  the  opposite  direction.  A  solid, 
pine  plank,  one  inch  thick  and  six  inches  wide,  was  literally 
driven  into  the  trunk  of  a  wild- cherry  tree,  and  there  firmly 
imbedded.  A  family  was  imprisoned  in  a  storm-cave  by  the 
•  sills  of  their  house  having  been  blown  across  its  door.  The 
top  of  another  cave,  to  which  the  family  had  fled  for  pro- 
tection, was  destroyed  by  the  house  being  blown  across  it. 
A  corner- post  of  a  shed  in  Literberry  was  picked  up  eight 
miles  distant  in  Cass  County.  A  house  was  lifted  from  its 
foundation  and  carried  twenty-two  feet,  the  L  part  being 
broken  off;  a  coal-oil  lamp,  which  was  left  lighted  when  the 
family  fled  from  the  house,  was  found  on  their  return  where 
it  was  left,  and  burning  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  A  two- 
story  house  and  small  barn  stood  on  opposite  sides  of  a  ravine 
about  two  hundred  feet  apart;  the  barn  was  first  struck  and 
hurled  some  rods  to  the  northeast,  where  it  was  broken  to 
pieces.  The  dwelling  was  carried  twenty  feet  to  the  south,  and 
after  plowing  up  the  earth  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  landed  on 
one  corner  and  shared  the  same  fate — material  and  contents 
being  scattered  around.  When  the  terrified  inmates  of  the 
house  came  together  soon  after,  it  was  found  that,  excepting  a 
scalp  wound  which  one   had    received,   no  one  was   seriously 


INTRODUCTORY — FLORA   AND   FAUNA.  33 

injured.  But,  to  the  horror  of  all,  the  baby  was  missing.  The 
speedy  search  which  followed  was  soon  rewarded  by  finding  the 
missing  member  peacefully  sleeping  .n  the  feather-bed  upon 
which  it  had  been  laid  to  rest  early  in  the  evening,  which  had 
been  carried  into  the  spreading,  sheltering  arms  of  an  uprooted 
tree,  now  serving  as  a  cradle,  five  hundred  feet  away.  This 
storm  extended  with  more  or  less  violence  into  Cass  and 
Menard  counties,  where  great  damage  was  also  inflicted.* 

The.  native  flora  of  the  State  is  as  numerous  as  its  soil  is 
prolific  and  its  climate  varied,  from  the  deciduous  cypress  and 
cane  of  the  South  to  the  juniper  and  tamarack  of  the  North. 
Six  species  are  found  peculiar  to  the  northern  part  of  the  State, 
sixteen  to  the  southern,  and  sixty-one  common  to  the  whole  ;-f* 
in  all  eighty-three  varieties,  as  against  thirty-four  in  Europe. 
The  oak  family  is  represented  by  twelve  varieties,  the  hickory 
by  six,  the  ash  by  five,  the  maple  by  three,  and  the  walnut  by 
two.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  the  tulip,  cucumber,  beech, 
birch,  sassafras,  catalpa,  elm,  poplar,  hackberry,  Cottonwood, 
sycamore,  pecan,  cypress,  and  redbud.  Of  wild  fruit-trees,  the 
State  produces  the  plum,  cherry,  mulberry,  crab  and  thorn 
apple,  haw,  pawpaw,  and  persimmon ;  besides  the  grape-vine  in 
endless  variety  and  profusion. 

Fruit-growing  is  made  a  specialty  in  some  sections,  tobacco 
and  hops  in  others;  and  it  being  generally  too  hot  for  wheat 
south  of  Illinois,  and  too  cold  for  corn  north  of  it,  these  two 
great  cereals  here  find  their  native  home  and  highest  culture. 

When  the  country  was  first  discovered,  not  only  the  richness 
of  its  flora  rendered  it  an  expanse  of  beauty  ro  the  eye,  but 
the  abundance  and  variety  of  its  fauna  made  it  still  more 
attractive  to  the  hunter.  Here  roamed  almost  unchecked  and 
in  countless  numbers,  the  buffalo,  the  oebuck,  hind,  stag,  and 
different  kinds  of  fallow  deer,  the  bear,  panther  wildcat,  and 
wolf.  The  nvers  were  covered  with  swans,  geese,  ducks,  and 
teals.  "  One  can  scarcely  travel  without  finding  a  prodigious 
multitude  of  turkeys,  who  keep  together  in  flocks  often  to  the 

*  Condensed  from  an  account  written  for  the  Department  of  Signal -Service 
Weather  Bureau,  after  a  personal  inspection  of  the  locality  the  next  day,  by  Dr. 
G.  V.  Black  of  Jacksonville,  111. 

t  "Congressional  Report  of  Forestry,"  503. 


34  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

number  of  ten  hundred."*  And  for  trapping,  there  were  the 
beaver,  otter,  and  mink. 

From  these  great  flocks  and  herds,  roaming  at  will  over  the 
prairies,  Col.  Geo.  Croghan  says:  "At  any  time,  in  half  an  hour, 
we  could  kill  all  we  wanted."  But  although  there  are  yet  left 
the  squirrel,  rabbit,  raccoon,  opossum,  and  pigeon,  inviting  the 
sportsman  to  wood  and  field,  the  great  flocks  of  geese  and 
ducks  which  formerly  nested  within  the  State  now  pass  over  it; 
and  the  prairie-chicken,  whose  wild  fields  have  been  taken  from 
him,  has  flown  to  others  farther  west.  A  few  wolves  and  foxes 
are  still  left  to  prey  upon  the  farmers'  sheep  and  fowl,  but  the 
buffalo,  with  his  beaten  track  through  the  prairies  and  groves, 
the  elk  and  the  bear,  have  long  since  disappeared  with  the  red 
man,  himself  a  superior  kind  of  game,  before  the  all-conquering 
invasion  and  greed  of  the  white  man. 

The  impressions  which  the  country  made  upon  those  who 
beheld  it  for  the  first  time  were  uniformly  favorable,  and  their 
reports  of  its  appearance  and  resources  were  expressed  in  terms 
of  highest  praise.  Father  Marquette  said:  "We  had  seen  noth- 
ing like  this  for  the  fertility  of  the  land,  its  prairies,  woods,  and 
wild  cattle."  Father  Zenobe  Membre:  "The  Illinois  River  is 
edged  with  hills,  covered  with  trees  of  all  kinds,  whence  you 
discern  beautiful  prairies.  The  soil  is  good,  capable  of  produc- 
ing all  that  can  be  desired  for  man's  subsistence.  The  whole 
country  is  charming  in  its  aspect."  Father  Marest:  "We  must 
acknowledge  that  the  country  is  very  beautiful.  There  are  great 
rivers  which  water  it,  vast  and  dense  forests,  delightful  prairies, 
and  hills  covered  with  thick  woods."  Col.  Croghan,  in  1765, 
among  the  first  of  Englishmen  to  visit  it:  "The  country 
appears  like  an  ocean.  The  ground  is  exceedingly  rich,  well 
watered,  and  full  of  all  kinds  of  game."  Col.  George  Rogers 
Clark:  "On  the  river  you'll  find  the  finest  lands  the  sun  ever 
shone  on.  In  the  high  country  you  will  find  a  variety  of  poor 
and  rich  lands,  with  large  meadows  extending  beyond  the  reach 
of  your  eyes,  variegated  with  groves  of  trees,  appearing  like 
islands  in  the  seas,  covered  with  buffaloes  and  other  game." 
And  Thomas  Hutchins,  the  first  surveyor-general  of  the  United 
States,  then  called  "the  geographer,"  whose  testimony  is  the 

*  Father  Gabriel  Marest. 


INTRODUCTORY — IMPRESSIONS.  35 

most  valuable  of  all  on  account  of  his  experience  and  ability, 
says:  "The  Illinois  country  is  in  general  of  a  superior  soil  to 
any  other  part  of  North  America  that  I  have  seen."  Volney 
(C.  F.),  in  1796,  says:  "It  will  doubtless  prove  hereafter  the 
Flanders  of  America,  and  bear  away  the  prize  equally  for 
pasture  and  tillage." 

There  is  no  "  earthly  paradise,"  nor  any  country,  however 
attractive,  on  which  the  sun  shines  in  regard  to  which  there  is 
left  nothing  to  wish  for.  Man  has  never  yet  discovered  a 
Utopia,  and  the  physical  conformation  of  Illinois  leaves  much 
to  be  desired  in  respect  of  both  comfort  and  aesthetic  gratifica- 
tion. The  lofty  mountain -ranges,  with  their  chain  of  silver 
lakes,  are  wanting;  the  mineral  wealth  which  nature  has  locked 
in  the  rock-bound  caverns  of  the  hills  is  not  hers.  The  sun 
of  midsummer,  which  sometimes  scorches  the  very  roots  of  the 
nodding  grass  upon  her  prairies,  drives  many  of  her  people  to 
seek  relief  from  the  sweltering  heat  in  latitudes  farther  north; 
while  the  fierce  western  winds  of  winter,  which  sweep  unchecked 
across  her  level  surface,  force  others  to  seek  a  refuge  in  more 
genial  southern  climes.  But  while  the  State  loses  the  uniform- 
ity of  climate,  the  picturesque  appearance,  and  the  mineral 
wealth  which  she  might  have  possessed  had  her  broad  bosom 
been  more  broken,  she  can  better  afford  to  be  deprived  of  these 
than  surrender  her  proud  preeminence  as  the  first  agricultural 
State  in  the  Union.* 

*  In  writing  the  foregoing  chapter,  the  author  has  had  occasion  to  examine  and 
refer  to  the  following  works:  Foster's  "Mississippi  Valley";  Worthen's  "Geology 
of  Illinois";  the  works  of  James  Hall;  H.  W.  Beckwith's  "Vermilion  County"; 
R.  B.  Porter's  "The  West";  Reynolds'  "Illinois";  "A  View  of  the  Soil  and  Climate 
of  the  U.  S.  of  America,"  by  C.  F.  Volney;  State  Reports  on  Agriculture  and  Hor- 
ticulture; U.-S.  Report  on  Forestry;  Encyclopedia  of  Geography;  Eames'  "History 
of  Morgan  County";  Findlay's  "Western  Territory";  "Illinois  Monthly  Magazine"; 
Laws  of  Congress;  etc 


CENltiytfJM   ROOM 


Champaign  Public  Library 
Champaign  Hjjneii 


CHAPTER   II. 

Aborigines — Origin,  Location,  and  Habits. 

HOW  the  inhabitants  found  upon  the  American  continent 
by  the  first  white  explorers  came  to  receive  the  misnomer 
of  Indians,  in  consequence  of  the  mistaken  belief  of  Columbus 
that  in  the  West- India  Islands  he  had  found  the  eastern  shores 
of  India,  is  too  well  known  to  call  for  repetition  here. 

Of  the  origin  and  previous  history  of  the  red  men,  scarcely 
anything  is  known.  The  nature  and  extent  of  their  former 
civilization  is  left  to  extremely  vague  tradition  and  conjecture. 
That  there  had  been  a  people  more  advanced  than  those  found 
here  by  Europeans,  the  mounds  erected  by  them  and  the  stone 
and  copper  weapons  and  utensils  showing  their  handiwork, 
afford  us  the  only,  but  not  very  satisfactory,  evidence.  Whence 
they  came,  whither  they  went,  and  at  what  periods,  no  one  can 
tell. 

Their  successors  found  in  this  country  on  the  arrival  of  the 
white  man,  with  the  one  exception  of  the  Shavvnees,  who 
claimed  a  foreign  extraction — asserted  that  they  were  natives, 
and  that  they  came  up  out  of  the  earth.  But  their  traditions  all 
pointed  to  the  fact  that  they  came  from  the  West,  while  their 
white  conquerors  came  from  the  East.  They  were  divided  into 
different  tribes,  who,  wandering  over  hills  and.  valleys,  had  ap- 
portioned these  among  themselves  by  indefinite  boundaries, 
which  were  held  by  an  uncertain  possession  and  title. 

They  have  been  classified  into  five  groups,  according  to  lan- 
guage and  dialects,  as  follows:  the  Algonquins,  inhabiting  the 
country  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  mouth  of  the  James  River, 
thence  west  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  thence  northward  to 
Hudson  Bay;  the  Iroquois,  south  and  east  of  Lake  Ontario, 
within  the  above  territory;  the  Appalachians,  south  of  the 
Algonquins  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Dakotas,  or  Sioux, 
west  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Missouri  and  Platte 
rivers;  and  the  Shoshones,  south  and  west  of  the  Dakotas. 

Their  numbers  in  1639  were  estimated  at  about  one  hundred 

36 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS. 


37 


and  ninety  thousand,  as  follows:  Algonquins,  ninety  thousand; 
Iroquois,  comprehending  the  Hurons  and  the  Five  Nations, 
twenty  thousand;  Cherokees,  twelve  thousand;  Chickasaws, 
Choctaws,  and  Muskhogees,  sixty-three  thousand;  Natchez,  four 
thousand;  beside  the  Shoshones  and  Dakotas.*  In  the  divis- 
ions and  subdivisions  of  tribes  at  this  time  there  were  included 
two  hundred  and  fifty-two  different  names. 

These  red  men  of  the  new  world,  wherever  situated,  in 
rocky  New  England,  in  Southern  forests,  or  on  the  prairies 
of  the  West,  were  essentially  the  same,  and  altogether  savage. 
Their  government  was  tribal  and  each  chief  a  petty  despot; 
their  religion  was  a  superstition — a  blind  worship  of  some  unde- 
fined Great  Spirit;  they  were  without  learning  or  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  world  around  them;  they  possessed  no  definite 
ideas  of  property  or  of  human  rights;  they  knew  nothing  of 
architecture,  of  mechanics,  or  of  manufactures.  They  lived  in 
cabins  and  were  clothed  in  skins;  their  implements  and  arms 
were  of  the  rudest  sort,  made  from  stone  and  wood  and  the 
bones  of  the  buffalo;  they  were  ruthless  and  revengeful,  nar- 
row-minded and  brutal,  dissolute,  lazy,  selfish,  gluttonous,  polyg- 
amous, and  lustful;  they  had  no  enjoyments  except  the  chase 
and  dance,  no  music  but  the  rudest  sounds,  giving  forth  no 
melody.  Their  relaxations  were  those  of  the  indolent;  "their 
great  business  in  life  was  to  procure  food  and  devour  it,  to 
subdue  their  enemies  and  scalp  them."-f-  — ' 

Not  the  stoics  they  have  been  represented  to  be,  but  rather 
epicures,  who  preferred  to  enjoy  themselves  at  the  expense  of 
duty,  avoiding  all  hardship  and  peril.  Hence  their  feeble, 
capricious,  and  ineffective  military  operations.  Yet  they  were 
not  without  great  leaders,  men  of  quick  perceptions  and  reso- 
lute will,  possessing  remarkable  powers  of  oratory,  and  capable 
of  acts  of  daring  courage  and  heroic  fortitude;  while  in  not 
a  few  instances,  these  untrained,  unreasoning  children  of  nature, 
knowing  no  guide  but  instinct,  displayed  a  fidelity  to  treaty 
obligations  which  might  well  put  to  shame  the  civilized,  Chris- 
tianized Caucasian. 

Their  mode  of  living  was  as  follows:  in  the  spring  the  tribe 

*  Bancroft's  "United  States,"  III.,  p.  253. 
+  McKinney's  "Indian  Tribes." 


i    N 


38  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

assembled  at  its  village  or  favorite  camping-ground,  and  there 
remained  until  the  time  came  for  hunting.  Here  crops  were 
raised — the  women  and  old  men  doing  the  work — skins  were 
dressed,  and  preparations  made  for  hunting  and  trapping  in  the 
fall,  when  the  tribe,  separating  into  different  bands,  departed 
from  their  villages  to  occupy  their  winter-quarters. 

They  were  unacquainted  with  the  use  of  iron  or  copper,  and 
had  formed  but  the  crudest  notions  of  trade.  If  left  to  them- 
selves, they  would  doubtless  have  continued  as  they  were  found, 
ignorant,  savage,  and  untamable.  Three  hundred  years  of  oppor- 
tunity, afforded  by  contact  with  the  white  race,  have  left  them 
unbenefited  and  unimproved  by  the  connection.  By  adopting 
the  vices  of  the  white  man  they  have  become  enfeebled,  and  by 
learning  the  use  of  firearms  they  have  been  the  better  enabled 
to  carry  out  their  savage  propensities.  It  is  only  when  the 
blood  of  the  white  race  has  been  infused  into  the  veins  of  the 
red,  and  in  that  proportion,  that  the  civilization  of  the  former 
has  been  understood,  appreciated,  or  adopted  by  the  latter. 

During  the  period  of  the  early  explorations  of  the  West, 
from  1673  to  1720,  that  portion  of  it  called  "the  country  of  the 
Illinois"  was  found  to  be  inhabited  by  seven  different  tribes  of 
Indians,  namely:  the  Illinois,  Miamis,  Kickapoos — including 
the  Mascoutins,  Pottawatomies,  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Winnebagoes, 
and  Shawnees.  These  all  belonged  to  the  Algonquin  family, 
except  the  Winnebagoes  who  were  classed  with  the  Dakotas. 

The  names  by  which  different  tribes  were  known  and  desig- 
nated were  not  generally  of  their  own  selection,  but  such  as 
were  bestowed  upon  them  by  some  other  tribe,  or  by  the 
French,  to  denote  some  supposed  peculiarity.  Thus  the  prin- 
cipal tribe,  denominated  the  Illinois,  called  themselves  L-in-ni- 
wek.  This  collective  name.,  as  applied  to  a  nation  or  confed- 
eracy, included  five  separate  tribes,  called  the  Kaskaskias, 
Cahokias,  Tamaroas,  Peorias,  and  Mitchigamies — the  latter, 
from  whom  Lake  Michigan  was  named  and  near  whose  borders 
they  for  a  time  encamped,  having  been  adopted  from  the  Qua- 
paws  living  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  Illinois  had  their  possessions  along  the  river  of  that 
name,  beginning  on  the  Desplaines  and  Kankakee,  and  claimed 
the  country  adjacent  thereto  and  on  the  west  of  these  streams 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS.  39 

to  and  even  beyond  the  Mississippi,  and  as  far  south  as  its 
confluence  with  the  Ohio.  Their  favorite  and  principal  loca- 
tions, however,  were  in  the  central  and  northern  portions  of 
what  afterward  became  the  State,  where  they  had  seventeen 
villages.  The  largest  of  these,  their  metropolis,  was  situated 
on  the  Illinois  River  in  LaSalle  County,  one  mile  south  of  the 
celebrated  rock  subsequently  fortified  as  Fort  St.  Louis,  and 
adjoining  the  present  town  of  Utica.  This  village  was  called 
La  Vantum,  and,  according  to  Father  Membre,  in  1680  con- 
tained a  population  of  seven  or  eight  thousand,  not  including 
the  Kaskaskias.  The  chief  village  of  the  Peorias  was  on  the 
lake  of  that  name,  while  that  of  the  Tamaroas  and  Cahokias 
was  below  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River  and  nearly  opposite 
St.  Louis. 

The  character  generally  given  to  the  Illinois  Indians  by  the 
French  missionaries  does  not  differ  from  that  of  other  tribes, 
and  shows  that  they  were  not  entitled  to  the  distinction  of 
superiority  which  their  name  implied.  While  they  were  "  tall 
of  stature,  strong  and  robust,  the  swiftest  runners  in  the 
world,  and  good  archers,  proud,  yet  affable,"  they  were  "  idle, 
revengeful,  jealous,  cunning,  dissolute,  and  thievish."  *  They 
lived  on  Indian  corn,  beans,  and  other  vegetables,  including 
fourteen  kinds  of  roots,  fruits  and  nuts,  and  fish  and  game. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  country  so  beautiful  and  pro- 
ductive, and  so  full  of  the  finest  game,  as  that  inhabited  by  the 
Illinois  Indians  should  be  coveted  by  the  surrounding  tribes. 
The  Dakotas  (Sioux)  had  made  hostile  incursions  upon  it  from 
the  west,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  from  the  north,  and  also  the  Kick- 
apoos  and  Pottawatomies  from  the  northeast.  Its  fame,  indeed, 
had  spread  to  the  farther  east,  where  the  warlike  Iroquois, 
having  heard  of  this  splendid  hunting-ground,  determined  to 
dispossess  its  occupants  and  hold  it  for  themselves.  They  had 
made  frequent  raids  upon  it  prior  to  1673,  in  most  of  which 
they  had  been  successful,  claiming,  indeed,  to  have  conquered 
the  country. 

In  one  of  these  warlike  expeditions,  however,  through  the 
heroism  of  an  Indian  woman,  they  had  to  acknowledge  a  defeat. 
They  had  attacked  an  Illinois  village  on  the  banks  of  a  river, 

*  Father  Membre. 


40  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  had  succeeded  in  driving  out  the  inhabitants  with  great 
carnage.  A  young,  courageous,  and  patriotic  woman  of  the 
tribe,  called  Watch-e-kee — the  orthography  of  which  has  been 
changed  to  Watseka — having  ascertained  that  their  enemies 
were  then  exulting  over  their  victory  and  rioting  on  the  spoils 
secured  in  the  village,  urged  her  countrymen  to  take  advantage 
of  the  situation  and  attack  them  in  return.  But  the  warriors, 
smarting  under  the  sense  of  recent  humiliation,  refused  to 
respond  to  her  urgent  call.  She  pointed  to  the  darkness  of 
the  night,  and  the  almost  certain  chances  of  a  successful  sur- 
prise. The  "  braves "  still  refusing,  she  called  for  volunteers 
from  among  the  squaws,  urging  upon  them  that  death  in  battle 
was  preferable  to  torture  and  captivity,  which  might  be  their 
fate  on  the  morrow.  The  women  came  forward  in  great  num- 
bers and  offered  to  follow  their  brave  leader.  Seeing  the  deter- 
mined courage  of  their  wives  and  daughters,  the  men  became 
ashamed  of  their  cowardice,  and,  inspired  with  a  valor  they 
had  not  lately  exhibited,  rushed  to  arms.  A  plan  of  attack  was 
speedily  arranged,  and  the  Iroquois,  being  taken  unawares,  in 
turn  suffered  an  overwhelming  defeat.  The  stream  near  which 
this  engagement  took  place  was  called  the  Iroquois,  as  has 
been  the  county  through  which  it  flows,  while  to  the  county- 
seat  of  the  latter  has  been  given  the  name  of  the  heroic  Indian 
girl  who  compassed  the  overthrow  of  her  enemies. 

When  the  French  came  to  the  Illinois  country  they  were 
received  not  only  without  opposition,  but  with  decided  mani- 
festations of  friendliness.  With  their  superior  arms  and  equip- 
ments of  war,  the  Illinois  had  the  sagacity  to  see  that  they 
might  prove  most  valuable  allies  and  defenders.  They  wel- 
comed their  priests  and  listened  apparently  with  great  favor  to 
the  scheme  of  religion  presented  by  them  with  so  much  zeal  and 
fervor;  and  the  friendship  thus  begun  was  never  afterward  in- 
terrupted. The  two  peoples,  so  different  in  birth  and  civiliza- 
tion, had  yet  so  many  characteristics  in  common  that  their 
mutual  attachment  was  not  unnatural.  They  hunted  and  traded 
together,  fought  together,  and  eventually  many  of  them  inter- 
married and  lived  together.  It  was  an  alliance  which,  although 
at  first  beneficial  to  the  French,  in  the  end  proved  fatal  to  both 
parties.  ♦ 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS.  41 

Having  heard  that  the  Illinois  were  again  assembled  in  large 
numbers  at  their  village  of  La  Vantum,  and  of  the  presence 
among  them  of  some  Frenchmen,  who  might  divert  the  valua- 
ble trade  in  furs  from  their  British  and  Dutch  allies  to  the 
French,  the  Iroquois,  in  September,  1680,  with  six  hundred 
picked  warriors,  made  an  attack  upon  them,  killing  twelve  hun- 
dred and  driving  the  rest  beyond  the  Mississippi,  with  a  loss 
of  only  thirty  men.  Further  particulars  of  this  foray  will  be 
given  hereafter. 

The  French  having  established  themselves  at  the  Rock,  which 
they  had  fortified  and  garrisoned,  the  Illinois,  under  their  favor 
and  protection,  again  occupied  their  villages  in  that  vicinity, 
with  other  tribes  invited  by  LaSalle.  On  March  20,  1684,  the 
Iroquois  again  came  in  great  force  and  laid  siege  to  this  fort 
for  seven  days,  but  were  finally  repulsed  and  compelled  to 
retreat  with  great  loss.  This  was  their  last  invasion  of  the 
Illinois  country,  and  from  this  time  until  1702,  when  the  post 
of  Fort  St.  Louis  was  disbanded  as  a  military  establishment, 
the  Illinois  remained  at  peace  with  their  neighbors,  and  were 
prospered  in  their  hunting  and  trading  with  their  new-found 
friends. 

About  the  year  1700,  the  Kaskaskias,  learning  that  the 
French  were  establishing  a  military  post  and  colony  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  as  Father  Gravier  remarks,  decided 
to  remove  thither  prematurely.  That  a  portion  of  the  tribe 
had  already  commenced  the  emigration  is  probable,  as  appears 
from  the  journal  of  M.  Penicaut*  He  describes  the  Kaskas- 
kias as  having  "already  departed  and  established  themselves 
within  two  leagues  of  this  river  [meaning  the  Kaskaskia]  in  the 
interior."  Father  Gravier  deplored  this  step,  and  through  per- 
sonal influence  induced  the  ultimate  modification  of  the  plan; 
and  those  of  the  tribe  who,  at  the  time  of  his  arrival,  still 
remained  in  their  old  hunting-grounds  were  induced  by  him  to 
join  their  brethren  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  Illinois  coun- 
try, where  they  continued  to  reside. 

The  remaining  Illinois  at  Peoria  and  Fort  St.  Louis  were 
attacked  by  the  Foxes  in  1722,  but  the  latter  were  defeated 
and  driven  off  with  a  loss  of  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  men. 

*  "Journal  of  Leseur's  Expedition  to  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  1700." 


42  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

After  this,  however,  their  situation  was  so  exposed  and  they 
were  so  subject  to  "constant  alarm"  that  they  decided,  says 
Charlevoix,  to  unite  with  their  brethren  who  had  settled  upon 
the  Mississippi.  How  many  of  them  thus  changed  their  loca- 
tion can  not  be  stated,  but  it  seems  certain  that  a  portion,  to- 
gether with  some  confederate  bands,  continued  at  times  to 
occupy  their  old  villages. 

The  French  at  this  period  found  their  dusky  dependants  not 
only  useful  in  their  settlements  and  beneficial  to  their  trade,  but 
also  valuable  allies,  rendering  important  services  in  their  wars. 
The  chief  Chicagou,  who  had  been  sent  by  them  to  France  in 
1725,  where  he  received  the  attentions  due  to  a  foreign  prince, 
was  afterward  honored  with  a  command  in  their  expedition 
against  the  Cherokees.  In  1736,  the  number  and  location  of 
warriors  in  that  portion  of  the  confederacy  which  had  been 
incorporated  under  the  French  government  in  171S,  was  as 
follows:  Mitchigamies,  near  Fort  Chartres,  two  hundred  and 
fifty;  Kaskaskias,  six  leagues  below,  one  hundred;  Peorias, 
fifty;  Cahokias  and  Tamaroas,  two  hundred;  making  a  total 
of  six  hundred.  They  took  part  in  the  French  and  Indian 
war  of  1755,  but  are  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the  accounts 
extant  of  the  war  of  Pontiac,  in  1763. 

From  this  period  their  decline  into  a  subordinate  position 
among  other  tribes,  and  their  inability  to  defend  themselves, 
rendered  them  an  easy  prey  to  their  fellow  savages.  They 
were  hemmed  in  by  relentless  foes  on  all  sides.  On  the  south- 
east were  the  Shawnees,  who,  in  a  bloody  engagement  with  the 
Tamaroas,  nearly  exterminated  that  tribe;  to  the  northeast 
were  the  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies,  against  whose  attacks 
they  were  able  to  oppose  but  a  feeble  resistance. 

In  1769,  having  been  charged  with  the  assassination  of 
Pontiac,  some  tribes  with  whom  that  great  chief  was  con- 
nected attacked  them  from  the  north.  Fugitive  bands  of  the 
Illinois,  fleeing  from  these  warriors,  sought  to  defend  them- 
selves in  their  ancient  village  of  LaVantum,  which  they  rudely 
fortified.  Here  a  sanguinary  engagement  took  place  which 
lasted  two  days.  Seeing  that  they  were  likely  to  be  overcome, 
during  a  stormy  night  they  sought  refuge  on  the  projecting 
bluff  near  by  which  had  been  the  site  of  Fort  St.  Louis.     Here 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS.  43 

they  were  again  assaulted  and  besieged  for  twelve  days.  When 
at  length  their  provisions  were  exhausted  and  they  were  un- 
able to  obtain  water,  hunger  and  thirst  accomplished  what  their 
relentless  foes  had  been  powerless  to  effect.  Determined  to 
sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible,  those  who  were  able  made 
a  last  desperate  sortie,  but  fell  easy  victims  to  their  watchful 
enemies  below,  who,  gaining  access  to  the  top  of  the  cliff, 
satiated  their  vengeance  in  true  savage  fashion  by  the  unspar- 
ing use  of  the  tomahawk  upon  their  now  defenceless  foes  who 
had  been  too  feeble  to  join  in  the  last  desperate  encounter. 
Only  one,  a  half-breed,  escaped  to  tell  the  tale.  Their  tragic 
fate  and  whitening  bones,  which  were  to  be  seen  for  years  after- 
ward upon  its  summit,  gave  to  this  noted  location  the  name  of 
the  Starved  Rock,  which  it  has  ever  since  borne.*  Such,  at 
least,  is  the  traditional  account  handed  down  from  Indian 
sources. 

Following  their  history  to  a  later  period,  in  1773,  the  number 
of  Kaskaskias  in  their  village  is  estimated  by  the  geographer, 
Thomas  Hutchins,  at  two  hundred  and  ten  and  of  Peorias  and 
Mitchigamies  at  two  hundred  and  forty  warriors.  Col.  George 
Rogers  Clark,  in  his  report  of  the  conferences  he  had  with  the 
various  tribes  of  Indians  at  Cahokia  in  1778,  especially  men- 
tions the  Illinois,  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  and  Cahokias  as  having 
been  present,  with  whom  and  other  tribes  he  concluded  treaties. 

The  French  villages  in  the  Illinois  country  having  been  in 
possession  of  the  British  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  the  first  predilections  of  the  neighboring  Indians  were 
to  ally  themselves  with  the  cause  of  Great  Britain.  But  when 
they  came  to  understand  the  true  situation,  as  explained  by 
Col.  Clark,  and  learned  that  their  ancient  allies,  the  French, 
had  sent  ships  of  war  and  armies  to  aid  the  Americans — "the 
long  knives,"  as  they  called  them — in  their  struggle  for  inde- 

*  N.  Matson,  in  his  "  Pioneers  of  Illinois, "  says  that  the  Indians  whose  fate  is 
here  narrated  constituted  "the  remnants  of  the  different  bands  of  the  Illinois — in 
fact  all  that  was  left  of  them,"  and  concludes  his  romantic  account  by  stating  that 
"thus  perished  the  large  tribe  of  Illinois  Indians  which,  with  the  exception  of  a 
solitary  warrior,  became  extinct. "  A  statement  in  which  Judge  J.  D.  Caton,  in  his 
"Last  of  the  Illinois,"  concurs,  although  the  latter  fixes  the  number  who  escaped 
at  eleven.  Neither  of  these  statements  are  at  all  consistent  with  other  well-known 
and  established  facts  mentioned  in  the  text. 


44  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

pendence,  they  were  easily  persuaded  to  cease  their  hostility 
and  transfer  their  friendship  to  the  Americans.*  But  later  they 
joined  the  Miami  confederacy,  and,  the  Kaskaskias  certainly, 
were  recognized  at  the  making  of  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  in 
1795,  as  having  participated  in  the  war,  the  issues  of  which 
that  treaty  adjusted;  and  were  in  that  document  placed  on  the 
same  footing,  as  to  payments  for  lands  ceded  by  them,  as  the 
Kickapoos,  Piankashaws,  and  Weas. 

Coming  down  to  the  year  1800,  Gov.  Reynolds  remarks,  in  his 
"Pioneer  History,"  that  at  that  time  the  entire  Illinois  confeder- 
acy numbered  about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Their  chief,  DuCoign 
or  DuOuoin,  "a  cunning  man  of  considerable  talents."  had  for- 
merly paid  a  visit  to  President  Washington,  and,  as  a  token  of 
his  favor,  wore  a  medal  received  from  him.  It  was  in  this  year 
that,  according  to  an  historical  sketch  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck, 
they  encountered  their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Kickapoos,  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  and  Pottawatomies,  for  the  last  time  at  Battle 
Creek,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Kaskaskia,  where  the  Illi- 
nois were  overwhelmingly  defeated. 

By  the  treaty  of  1803,  which  recites  the  fact  of  their  waning 
condition,  in  consideration  of  the  increase  of  their  annuity 
from  $500,  under  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  to  $1000,  of  $300 
toward  building  a  church,  and  the  annual  payment  of  $100  to 
a  Catholic  priest  for  seven  years,  they  ceded  all  their  lands, 
excepting  a  reservation  of  seven  hundred  acres,  to  the  United 
States,  and  were  thenceforward  taken  under  the  protection  of 
the  government. -f* 

By  this  time  drunkenness  had  completed  their  deterioration, 
physical  as  well  as  moral,  and,  from  a  race  of  hardy,  valiant 
warriors,  they  had  degenerated  into  a  mere  handful  of  idle, 
worthless  hangers-on  about  the  frontier  settlements.  Having 
disposed  of  their  possessions  in  Illinois,  the  remnant  of  the 
tribe  finally  removed  to  their  reservation  in  the  Indian  Terri- 

*  Their  numbers,  as  reported  by  Capt.  G.  Imlay  in  his  description  of  the  West 
in  1 791,  were  as  follows:  Kaskaskias,  two  hundred  and  fifty;  Cahokias,  two  hundred 
and  sixty;  and  Peorias,  four  hundred. 

t  All  these  facts  are  in  conflict  with  the  statement  attributed  to  Gen.  Harrison, 
made  undoubtedly  upon  erroneous  information,  that  the  Illinois  confederacy  was 
reduced  to  thirty  persons  in  1800. 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND    HABITS.  45 

tory,  where  they  are  now,  under  the  name  of  Peorias,  and  num- 
bered, in  1885,  one  hundred  and  forty-nine.  They  are  reported, 
by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  to  be  "for  the  most  part 
an  active,  well-to-do  race  of  farmers,  who  live  in  comfortable 
frame-houses."  Evidently  they  now  possess  but  few  traits  of 
the  original  native — the  blood  has  been  changed. 

The  Miamis,  having  had  tribal  relations  with  the  Illinois, 
from  whom  they  separated  prior  to  1673,  were  called  by  the 
Iroquois  and  early  colonists  Twigh-twees.  They  were  divided 
into  four  principal  tribes,  known  as  the  Miamis  proper,  the  Eel 
Rivers,  the  Weas,  and  the  Piankashaws.  Having,  as  is  alleged, 
emigrated  from  west  of  the  Mississippi,  through  Wisconsin, 
about  1672  they  were  found  around  the  southern  bend  of  Lake 
Michigan.  In  1684,  they  had  villages  near  the  Starved  Rock, 
and  numbered  there  two  thousand  warriors.  Later,  the  Weas 
had  a  village  near  Chicago,  but  left  it  in  1718,  and,  passing 
around  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  settled  farther  east  near 
other  kindred  bands.  The  Piankashaws  remained  in  Illinois 
and  subsequently  fixed  their  villages  on  the  Vermilion  and 
Wabash  rivers,  their  territory  extending  westward  to  the  water- 
shed between  the  latter  and  the  Illinois. 

The  superiority  in  numbers  and  bravery  of  the  Miamis,  and 
their  enterprise  in  procuring  fire-arms,  enabled  them  to  main- 
tain their  tribal  independence  much  longer  than  many  other 
confederacies.  They  were  opposed  to  the  French,  British,  and 
Americans  by  turns,  and  retarded  the  early  settlement  of  the 
country  by  the  bold  and  sagacious  defence  of  their  possessions. 
Gen.  Harrison  said  of  them  that  they  composed  the  finest  body 
of  light  troops  in  the  world.  They  were  classed  with  the 
Shawnees  and  Delawares  as  superior  to  other  tribes  in  moral 
and  intellectual  qualities. 

The  labors  of  the  missionaries  among  them  were  not  success- 
ful. They  became  the  enemies  of  the  French  in  1694,  because 
of  their  furnishing  arms  to  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and,  excepting 
the  Piankashaw  division,  were  never  afterward  on  good  terms 
with  them.  This  band,  however,  having  their  headquarters  in 
the  vicinity  of  Vincennes,  had  formed  a  closer  intimacy  with 
the  French,  even  to  the  extent  of  intermarriage.  On  account 
of  their  friendly  relations,  Col.  Clark  easily  succeeded  in  trans- 


46  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

ferring  their  allegiance  from  the  British  to  the  Americans,  and 
this  feeling  of  amity  was  continued  during  the  Indian  wars 
against  the  whites  subsequent  to  the  Revolution,  although  they 
often  innocently  suffered  from  avenging  blows,  which  should 
have  fallen  upon  others.  And,  in  answer  to  their  appeal,  Presi- 
dent Washington  issued  his  proclamation  especially  forbidding 
attacks  upon  them  by  the  whites.* 

The  Piankashaws  ceded  their  lands  in  Illinois  by  treaties  in 
1805  and  1809,  and  removed  first  to  Kansas  and  subsequently 
to  the  Indian  Territory,  where  they  have  since  remained. 

The  Pottawatomies,  formerly  a  subdivision  of  the  Chippewas 
and  Ottawas,  are  first  mentioned  in  history  as  dwelling  beyond 
the  river  St.  Lawrence,  and  to  the  north  of  Lake  Huron.  In 
1670,  they  were  established  at  Green  Bay.  Their  next  migra- 
tion was  toward  the  south.  A  portion  of  the  tribe  located  in 
Northern  Michigan,  another  division  settled  in  Northern  Ohio, 
while  still  a  third  section  established  themselves  in  that  part  of 
Illinois  lying  north  of  the  Kankakee  and  Illinois  rivers  and 
west  of  the  territory  of  the  Winnebagoes  and  Sacs  and  Foxes. 
The  name  signifies  "we  are  making  a  fire,"  hence  they  were 
called  by  other  tribes  "fire-makers." 

They  were  described  as  being  "  tall,  fierce,  and  haughty — a 
warlike  people,  fond  of  hunting  and  fishing."  They  early 
became  attached  to  the  French,  and  continued  on  friendly  rela- 
tions with  them  in  all  their  efforts  to  colonize  the  Northwest, 
during  all  of  which  period,  including  the  French  and  Indian 
war,  they  were  hostile  to  the  British.  They  were  among  the 
most  active  supporters  of  Pontiac  in  his  great  conspiracy,  and 
although,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  they  joined  in 
the  border  wars  against  the  Americans,  those  of  them  in  Illi- 
nois yielded  to  the  persuasions  of  Col.  Clark  to  lay  down  their 
arms.  They  were,  however,  prominent  members  of  the  Miami- 
Shawnee  confederacy,  and  became  parties  to  the  treaty  of 
Greenville.  While  they  did  not  look  with  favor  on  the  attempt 
of  the  Americans  to  settle  the  country,  they  were  not  so  demon- 
strative in  their  hostility  as  some  other  tribes.  On  account  of 
their  habit  of  frequently  roaming  from  one  belt  of  timber  to 
another,  and  never  remaining  long  at  one  place,  they  were 
called  "squatters." 

*  Backwith's  "  Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians." 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS.  47 

In  1763,  of  the  nineteen  hundred  and  thirty  warriors  of  the 
Algonquin  confederacy  who  met  Sir  Wm.  Johnson  at  Niagara, 
to  form  a  treaty  of  peace,  four  hundred  and  fifty  were  Potta- 
watomies.  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  they  were  at  this 
time  the  first  in  numbers,  if  not  the  most  powerful,  of  western 
tribes.  However  this  may  be,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  they 
were  always  "the  first  to  be  present  at  a  treaty  where  lands 
were  to  be  ceded,  and  claimed  the  lion's  share."  They  united 
with  Tecumseh,  and  were  won  over  to  the  British  cause  in  the 
war  of  18 12. 

The  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,  nominally  the  same,  were 
found  by  Father  Allouez,  in  1670,  near  the  mouth  of  Fox  River 
in  Wisconsin.  They  subsequently  worked  their  way,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Piankashaws  and  Illinois,  southward  to  the  river 
of  the  latter  name,  thence  south  of  the  Kankakee,  and  still 
later,  fighting  their  way,  to  the  Vermilion,  Sangamon,  and 
Mackinaw  rivers,  where  they  remained  for  over  a  hundred  years. 
Their  villages  were  on  the  Vermilion,  the  Embarras,  the  head- 
waters of  the  Okaw,  and  on  Sugar  Creek;  and  their  principal 
village  at  Old  Mackinaw,  in  McLean  County.  They  were 
called  Prairie  Indians,  and  although  comparatively  few  in 
numbers,  they  were  extremely  fierce  and  strongly  disposed  to 
war.  They  were  tall,  sinewy,  and  active;  industrious  and 
cleanly  in  their  habits,  remarks  Gov.  Reynolds,  and  were  better 
armed  and  clothed  than  other  Indians.  They  were  inferior  to 
the  Miamis,  Delawares,  and  Shawnees  in  the  management  of 
large  bodies  of  men,  but  excelled  all  other  tribes  in  predatory 
warfare.  Small  parties  of  from  five  to  twenty,  with  unequaled 
celerity,  would  swoop  down  upon  an  unprotected  settlement  a 
hundred  miles  distant,  and,  capturing  the  women  and  children, 
would  burn  the  cabins,  kill  the  cattle,  and  make  off  with  the 
the  horses,  before  an  alarm  could  be  given. 

The  French  were  unable  to  influence,  much  less  to  tame, 
them.  Superior  to  surrounding  tribes  in  energy  and  intelli- 
gence, they  were  the  persistent  and  uncompromising  enemies 
of  the  whites  in  the  very  centre  of  the  Illinois  country.  The 
early  settlers  on,  and  adjacent  to,  the  American  Bottom  were 
for  years  kept  in  continual  alarm  by  their  midnight  attacks  and 
menacing  presence.     With  the  close  of  the  war  of  18 12,  to  the 


48  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

great  relief  of  the  pioneers,  the  Kickapoos  ceased  their  hostili- 
ties. But  when  they  finally  ceded  their  lands,  a  portion  of 
them  manifested  their  continued  dislike  to  the  whites  by  refus- 
ing to  settle  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  preferring 
to  go  to  Texas.  Some  of  them  went  to  Mexico,  while  others 
removed  first  to  Kansas  and  then  to  the  Indian  Territory,  where 
they  now  reside.  In  1875,  the  quasi-civilized  portion  numbered 
three  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  the  wild  Mexican  band  four 
hundred  and  twenty. 

The  Sacs  or  Osaukies,  and  Foxes,  called  by  the  French 
Outagamies,  were  two  allied  tribes,  whose  principal  village  was 
near  Green  Bay,  where  they  were  found  in  1666,  to  the  number 
of  four  hundred  warriors.  Their  names  were  familiar  as  house- 
hold words  to  the  inhabitants  of  Illinois  during  the  century  of 
their  menacing  contiguity.  Father  Allouez,  who  first  discovered 
them,  says:  "They  were  very  much  disparaged,  and  reputed 
by  other  natives  as  penurious,  avaricious,  thievish,  and  quarrel- 
some." Or,  as  Judge  Hall  describes  them  at  a  later  period: 
"  They  were  always  the  restless  and  discontented  Ishmaelites 
of  the  lakes,  their  hand  against  every  man  and  every  man's 
hand  against  them."  He  further  speaks  of  them,  however,  as 
"remarkable  for  the  symmetry  of  their  form  and  fine  personal 
appearance.  Few  tribes  resemble  them  in  this  particular;  still 
fewer  equal  their  intrepidity.  They  are  physically  and  morally 
the  most  striking  of  their  race.  Their  history  abounds  in  tales 
of  daring  adventures  and  romantic  incidents." 

Of  all  the  Algonquin  tribes  with  whom  the  French  came  in 
contact,  they  alone — with  their  kindred,  the  Kickapoos — proved 
not  only  deaf  to  the  blandishments  of  flattery,  but  unalterably 
obdurate  to  all  overtures  of  friendship,  and,  indeed,  utterly 
implacable.  Except  on  one  occasion,  when  a  few  of  them 
joined  the  French  in  their  attack  upon  forts  George  and  Henry, 
they  continued  to  be  their  irreconcilable  enemies,  encroaching 
upon  their  territory,  dispersing  -their  forces,  and  attacking  their 
allies  whenever  the  opportunity  offered. 

After  numerous  successful  forays  into  the  country  of  the  Illi- 
nois, which  the  French  at  that  time  claimed  to  own,  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  finally,  about  the  year  17 18,  established  themselves  per- 
manently on  Rock  River.     Continuing  their  attacks  upon  the 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS.  49 

Illinois,  in  conjunction  with  the  Kickapoos,  a  few  years  later 
they  drove  them  as  a  body  south  from  their  ancient  villages. 
Being  engaged  at  the  time  in  a  war  with  the  Iowas,  whom  they 
conquered  and  incorporated  with  themselves,  they  took  no  part 
in  the  contest  which  ended -with  the  treaty  of  Greenville.  But 
in  the  war  of  18 12,  a  large  portion  of  them,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Black-Hawk,  engaged  on  the  side  of  the  British.  Their 
history  thereafter  will  be  taken  up  in  its  order. 

The  Winnebagoes,  calling  themselves  "  fish  eaters,"  were  of 
the  Dakota  stock.  They  came  from  the  West,  and  for  many 
years  were  engaged  in  war  with  the  Illinois  for  the  possession 
of  the  northern  part  of  their  country;  but  were  unsuccessful, 
the  latter  claiming  to  have  driven  them  back,  in  1640,  to  the  head 
of  Green  Bay,  where  they  located  and  were  first  encountered 
by  the  French  missionaries  in  1647.  They  had  the  reputation 
of  being  good-natured,  manly,  and  uncouth;  they  distinguished 
themselves  for  bravery  in  the  battles  with  Gov.  St.  Clair  and  Gen. 
Wayne,  and  in  the  later  wars  against  the  whites  they  bore  them- 
selves with  remarkable  valor,  being  specially  mentioned  by  Gen. 
Harrison  in  his  report  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  They  ranged 
themselves  on  the  side  of  the  British  in  the  war  of  18 12. 

Their  territorial  limits  in  Illinois,  which  had  long  been  a  sub- 
ject of  dispute,  were  settled  by  the  Prairie-du-Chien  treaty  of 
1825,  as  follows:  "Southeasterly  by  Rock  River,  from  its 
source  near  the  Winnebago  Lake  [in  Central  Wisconsin]  to  the 
Winnebago  village  about  forty  miles  above  its  mouth,"  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Pecatonica,  in  Jo  Daviess  County.  Further  men- 
tion of  them  will  be  made  hereafter. 

The  Shawnees  came  from  Florida  and  Georgia,  but  did  not 
obtain  a  footing  in  Illinois  until  about  1750,  when  they  located 
in  the  vicinity  of  that  ancient  town  on  the  Ohio  River  which 
was  named  after  them.  They  were  a  bold,  roving,  adventurous 
nation,  whose  leadership  by  Tecumseh  and  his  brother — the 
Prophet,  a  few  years  later,  marks  a  striking  period  in  the  annals 
of  the  West.  They  remained  in  Illinois  only  a  few  years,  when 
they  joined  the  remainder  of  the  tribe  on  the  Scioto  River. 

Between  the  policy  of  the  European  nations  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  American   aborigines  and    that   pursued    by  the 
United    States,  there  exists   a   wide   difference.      The    former 
4 


50  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

boldly  claimed  the  ownership  of  the  country  with  accompany- 
ing right  of  sovereignty.  They  occupied  and  used  what  land 
they  saw  fit,  and  paid  therefor  what  they  pleased,  by  way  of 
gratuity.  Of  all  the  Europeans,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  French  were  most  successful  in  checking  the  nomadic,  pred- 
atory disposition  of  the  Indians,  and  establishing  with  them  at 
least  quasi-friendly  relations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Ameri- 
cans, under  the  policy  marked  out  by  the  first  administration 
under  the  Constitution,  proceeded  upon  the  theory  of  conced- 
ing the  possessionary  right  of  the  natives  to  the  public  domain, 
of  which  they  could  be  deprived  only  by  treaty  and  purchase. 
But  the  red  man  soon  perceived  that  he  was  regarded  as  an 
interloper,  an  inharmonious  and  distasteful  presence  which  must 
be  got  rid  of  at  any  cost. 

To  meet  the  wishes,  if  not  the  imperative  requirements,  of 
the  white  settlers,  treaties  were  negotiated  with  the  Indians, 
whereby  the  latter  formally  ceded  territory  desired  by  the 
whites  in  consideration  of  money  and  habitations  provided  else- 
where. That  such  changes  of  location  were  not  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  these  "children  of  the  forest"  is  indisputable. 
But  they  submitted,  more  or  less  reluctantly,  to  the  inevitable, 
and  a  paternal  government  was  instituted  over  them,  by  which 
schools  were  provided  and  other  means  taken  to  hasten  their 
civilization.  Whether  this  course  was  best  for  the  welfare  of 
the  Indian,  can  not  now  with  certainty  be  determined;  but  that 
it  was  for  the  interest  of  his  white  supplanter,  there  can  be  no 
doubt. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  hitherto  the  Nation's  enforced 
guardianship  of  its  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  red 
men,  and  their  attempted  civilization,  have  not  been  successful. 
Verbose  treaties  have  been  solemnly  executed  with  these 
savages,  with  formalities  similar  to  those  observed  in  entering 
into  compacts  with  foreign  nations,  and  yet  these  same  tribes 
have  parted  with  every  attribute  of  national  sovereignty.  The 
government  has  loudly  and  repeatedly  declared  its  intention 
of  teaching  them  self-reliance,  and  at  the  same  time  persists  in 
treating  them  as  though  they  were  children.  To  give  them 
wagon-loads  of  toys  and  trinkets  can  not  supply  the  place  of 
moral  example.  As  Judge  James  Hall  says,  "the  march  of 
mind  will  never  penetrate  into  our  forests  by  the  beat  of  the 


ABORIGINES — ORIGIN,  LOCATION,  AND   HABITS.  5  I 

drum,  nor  civilization  be  transmitted  in  bales  of  scarlet  cloth 
and  glass  beads." 

The  sums  annually  expended  in  maintaining  a  policy  so  in- 
defensible are  vast  in  amount.  If  such  expenditure  resulted  in 
the  moral  or  material  advancement  of  those  for  whom  it  is 
appropriated,  no  voice  would  be  raised  in  opposition.  But  so  far 
from  the  disbursement  resulting  in  the  elevation  of  the  red  men, 
it  tends  to  sink  them  lower  in  the  depths  of  degradation.  The 
governmental  machinery  for  the  outlay  and  distribution  of  these 
sums  is  complex  and  cumbersome,  and  its  administration  has  in 
not  a  few  instances  given  rise  to  grave  national  scandals. 

The  asperities  of  the  Indian  character  can  not  be  softened, 
nor  his  morals  improved,  by  pampering  his  indolence  and  fos- 
tering his  egotism.  We  hold  these  dependants  "in  pupilage." 
Neither  common-sense  nor  reflection  approves  of  the  conduct 
of  the  parent  who  supports  his  son  in  idleness,  while  his  disci- 
pline is  of  the  most  capricious  character;  who  encourages  the 
indulgence  of  his  vicious  propensities  without  instructing  him 
how  to  secure  an  honest  livelihood;  or  attempting  to  instil  into 
his  mind,  by  both  precept  and  example,  the  duty  of  industry 
and  the  principles  of  sound  morality. 

But  while  these  grave  objections  may  be  urged  against  the 
policy  of  our  government  in  its  dealings  with  the  Indian 
question,  the  "Nation's  wards,"  notwithstanding  the  opportuni- 
ties offered  them,  have  shown  very  little  willingness  for  or  capa- 
bility of  self-government;  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  after 
half  a  century's  experience  and  intercourse  with  civilization,  the 
unmixed  red  man  yet  cherishes  what  would  seem  to  be  an 
ineradicable  preference  for  the  wild  woods  to  cultivated  fields, 
the  migratory  wigwam  to  the  permanent  home,  and  the  skins 
of  animals  and  blankets  to  the  garments  of  civilization,  the 
question  still  arises  whether  he  possesses  either  the  physical  or 
intellectual  organization  which  might  enable  him  to  reach  any 
higher  place  in  the  scale  of  being  than  that  of  his  aboriginal 
condition.* 

*  The  following  authorities  have  been  consulted  in  writing  the  foregoing  chap- 
ter: McKinney's  "Indian  Tribes";  Schoolcraft;  Reynolds;  Brown,  Peck,  and 
Beck's  "  Western  Gazetteers";  Beckwith's  " Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians";  French's 
"Louisiana";  "Annals  of  the  West";  American  State  Papers;  Thomas  Hutchins' 
"Topographical  Descriptions";  Bancroft's  "United  States";  Hall's  "111.  Monthly 
Magazine. " 


Period  I. — Under  the  French,  i  682-1 781 


CHAPTER    III. 

Early  Explorations  and  Discoveries,  1673  - 1700. 

THE  discovery  of  America  marked  a  new  era  in  the  world's 
progress.  Colonies  composed  of  the  hardy  and  adven- 
turous of  the  old  world  were  transferred  to  and  established  in 
the  new.  Unaccustomed  channels  of  trade  opened  up  the  way 
for  an  ever-expanding  commerce;  while  the  poor  and  oppressed 
found  a  home  and  a  refuge  where  man  could  work  and  think 
for  himself.  Not  only  the  struggle  for  wealth,  but  for  empire 
also,  was  transferred  from  the  well-contested  fields  of  the  east- 
ern to  the  virgin  forests  and  untrodden  prairies  of  the  western 
continent. 

The  Spaniards  planted  their  colonies  amid  the  ruins  of  the 
decayed  civilization  of  the  Aztecs,  and  among  the  orange 
groves  of  Florida,  where,  in  1565,  they  founded  St.  Augustine, 
the  oldest  city  in  the  United  States.  The  French  sought  the 
less  genial,  though  less  enervating,  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence; 
while  the  British,  with  a  keener  eye  to  prospective  commercial 
advantages,  confined  themselves  at  first  to  the  broken  outlines 
of  the  Atlantic  coast. 

While  that  mighty  artery  of  commerce,  the  Mississippi  River, 
which  drains  one-seventh  of  the  continent  of  North  America, 
and  passes  through  or  forms  the  boundary  of  ten  states  of  the 
American  Union,  was  first  seen  and  explored  below  the  thirty- 
seventh  parallel  of  latitude  by  Hernando  de  Soto,  in  1541, 
Illinois  owes  its  first  settlement  by  white  men,  over  a  century 
later,  to  the  adventurous  courage  of  French  explorers,  a  brief 
outline  of  whose  tireless  and  rugged  perseverance  is  essential 
to  a  thorough  comprehension  of  its  early  history. 

Jacques  Cartier,  the  sturdy  sailor  of  Breton,  was  the  pioneer 
French  discoverer  in  America.  He  was  the  first  to  sail  up  the 
river  St.  Lawrence  and  gave  to  that  stream  its  name.  He 
reached  the  site  of  the  future  city  of  Montreal  in   1535.     Al- 

52 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  53 

though  other  explorers  soon  followed,  it  was  not  until  July  3, 
1608,  that  a  permanent  European  settlement  was  made  upon 
Canadian  soil,  at  Quebec,  where  a  French  colony  was  planted  by 
that  most  illustrious  of  French  mariners,  Samuel  de  Champlain. 
To  him  may  be  ascribed  the  honor  of  the  discovery  of  lakes 
Huron  and  Ontario,  as  well  as  the  beautiful  sheet  of  water  which 
bears  his  name.  To  his  efforts  was  also  due  the  establishment 
of  new  settlements  and  posts  along  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and 
around  the  chain  of  great  lakes  to  the  West.  Reaching  out 
beyond  these  inland  seas,  the  mighty  rivers  and  boundless 
prairies  of  the  West  were  also  added  to  the  conquests  of  his 
master  and  patron,  Louis  XIV.,  "the  grand  monarch." 

Among  those  who  followed  Champlain,  and  whose  names 
have  been  honored  as  the  most  enterprising  and  successful  of 
the  early  French  inland  explorers  on  account  of  the  import- 
ance of  their  discoveries  relating  to  Illinois,  the  following  are 
deserving  of  especial  mention: 

1.  Jean  Nicolet.  He  came  from  Cherbourg  in  1618,  having 
previously  sailed  under  Champlain.  He  lived  with  the  Algon- 
quin Indians  many  years,  and,  having  learned  their  language, 
was  much  esteemed  as  an  interpreter.  To  him  belongs  the 
honor  of  discovering  Lake  Michigan,  then  generally  called  the 
"Lac  des  Illinois,"  on  July  4,  1634.  He  also  visited  the  Chip- 
pewas  at  Green  Bay,  the  Menominees  and  the  Winnebagoes 
at  the  lake  of  the  latter  name,  where  a  large  number  of  these 
natives  gathered  to  see  and  hear  him.  He  made  a  favorable 
impression,  and  was  invited  to  a  feast  at  which  one  hundred 
and  twenty  beavers  were  served.  From  this  point  he  jour- 
neyed six  days  to  the  home  of  the  Mascoutins  on  Fox  River. 
Having  heard  of  a  large  tribe  of  Indians  called  the  Illinois, 
he  proceeded  southward  to  visit  them,  and  had  friendly  inter- 
views with  them  in  some  of  their  northern  villages.  After  his 
return  to  Quebec,  he  was  continued  in  the  office  of  commissary 
and  interpreter,  in  which  position  he  gave  great  satisfaction, 
until  his  death  by  drowning,  in  October,  1642.  He  unlocked 
the  doors  to  the  Far  West,  and  opened  up  the  way  for  the 
fur-trader,  the  voyagcur,  and  the  missionary.* 

On  the  meagre  accounts  from  which  the  history  of  those  early 

*  C.  W.  Butterfield's  "Jean  Nicolet." 


54  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

days  is  made  up,  many  of  them  based  upon  mere  hearsay, 
and  upon  vague  and  conflicting  statements,  in  which  Indian 
names  with  French  pronunciations  are  often  calculated  to  mis- 
lead as  to  localities,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  predicate  positive 
statements  of  fact  without  provoking  controversy.  Still  it  may 
be  asserted  with  tolerable  certainty  that  Nicolet  was  the  first 
white  man  to  tread  the  soil  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois. 

2.  In  1658-9,  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson,  a  noted  traveler  and 
trader,  on  his  third  voyage  reached,  it  is  claimed,  the  upper 
Mississippi.  He  made  careful  notes,  from  which  he  prepared 
full  accounts  of  his  explorations  from  1652  to  1684,  which  have 
lately  been  published.*  Although  a  native  of  France,  he  was 
a  subject  alternately  of  either  France  or  Great  Britain,  as  facili- 
ties for  explorations  were  afforded  by  the  respective  countries. 
He  was  accompanied  in  his  voyages  by  his  brother-in-law, 
Medard  Chouart,  known  also  as  Sieur  des  Groseilliers.  They 
originated  the  forming  of  a  settlement  at  Hudson  Bay,  out  of 
which  grew  the  celebrated  company  of  that  name. 

In  consequence  of  the  favorable  reports  of  these  explorers, 
an  expedition  was  sent  out  from  Montreal  in  August,  1660,  to 
trade  with  the  newly- found  natives  west  of  Lake  Superior. 
Among  those  who  accompanied  this  party  were  Father  Rene 
Menard  and  his  servant,  Jean  Guerin.  Having  wintered  at 
Keweenaw  Bay,  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  lake,  in  June, 
1 66 1,  they  resumed  their  journey  to  find  the  Hurons.  Being 
soon  after  forsaken  by  their  guides,  they  lost  their  way,  and 
became  separated  from  each  other.  Menard  was  either  killed 
or  died  from  exposure.  Perrot  states  that  in  the  course  of 
these  wanderings  "the  father  followed  the  Ottawas  to  the  lake 
of  the  Illinois  [Michigan],  and  in  their  flight  westward  as  far 
as  the  upper  part  of  Black  River."  If  this  statement  be  true, 
Menard  and  Guerin*f*  saw  the  Mississippi  twelve  years  before 
Joliet  and  Marquette. 

3.  Nicholas  Perrot.  The  results  of  the  labors  of  this  ex- 
plorer are  not  only  important  in  themselves,  but  because  of 
the  intelligent  and  interesting  account  of  them  which  he  com- 
mitted to  writing;   and  which,  although  it  remained  in  man- 

*  "Radisson's  Voyages."     By  the  Prince  Society,  Boston,  1885. 
+  "Winsor's  America,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  171. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  55 

uscript  until  1864,  was  frequently  referred  to  and  proved  to  be 
a  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  that  period.  His 
explorations  from  the  year  1670  to  1690  extended  to  the  valley 
of  the  Fox  River  and  around  the  great  lakes. 

On  June  14,  1671,  the  first  conference  was  held  between  the 
natives  and  the  French  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Sieur  St.  Lusson.  It  was  a  notable  gathering,  and  there 
were  present,  by  invitation,  representatives  from  seventeen  dif- 
ferent tribes,  from  the  head-waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
Mississippi,  the  lakes,  and  as  far  south  as  Red  River.  The 
object  of  the  council  was  to  arrange  what  by  courtesy  was 
called  a  treaty,  by  which  the  French  government  was  to  take 
possession  of  the  country.  Fifteen  Frenchmen  were  present,  in- 
cluding Fathers  Allouez,  Druilletes,  and  Dablon,  and  also  Joliet, 
Moreau  called  La  Taupine,  and  Perrot  who  acted  as  the  princi- 
pal guide  and  interpreter  of  the  occasion.  The  arms  of  France 
were  marked  upon  a  cedar  post,  a  cross  was  raised,  and  the 
ceremonies  concluded  by  St.  Lusson  making  the  formal  an- 
nouncement that  he  did  then  and  there  take  possession  of 
lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  and  all  the  countries  contiguous  and 
adjacent  thereto  and  "southward  to  the  sea,"  which  had  been 
or  might  thereafter  be  discovered,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of 
France. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  the  bold  and  expansive  policy 
of  King  Louis  and  his  able  minister,  Jean  Baptiste  Colbert, 
was  placed  in  striking  contrast  with  the  dilatory  course  of 
England's  licentious  king,  Charles  the  Second.  While  France 
was  animating  the  colonists  in  America  to  extraordinary  exer- 
tions in  extending  its  empire,  England's  sovereign  was  content 
to  use  the  subsidies  of  France  to  minister  to  his  own  selfish 
♦enjoyments.  Perrot  discovered  the  first  lead-min°s  in  the 
West.  In  1685  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Green-Bay 
country;  and  in  1688  added  the  upper  Mississippi,  the  rivers 
St.  Croix  and  St.  Pierre,  and  adjacent  regions  to  the  dominions 
of  the  French  crown. 

4.  Louis  Joliet,  the  next  in  order  of  date,  although  among 
the  foremost  in  order  of  meritorious  service,  was  the  only  one 
of  these  early  explorers  who  was,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  Perrot,  born  on  American  soil,  having  first  seen  the  light  at 


56  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

Quebec  in  1645.  He  was  the  son  of  a  wagon-maker.  His 
parents  placed  his  education  in  care  of  the  Jesuits,  under  whose 
tutelage  he  passed  four  years.  The  young  novitiate  discovered 
that  he  had  no  vocation  to  the  priesthood.  His  adventurous 
spirit  could  not  longer  endure  the  restraints  of  academic  shades. 
To  him  the  hunter's  garb  was  more  attractive  than  the  cassock 
of  the  ecclesiastic,  and  the  canoe  more  congenial  than  the  clois- 
ter. He  therefore  bade  farewell  to  the  seminary,  and  entered 
upon  a  life  better  adapted  to  his  active  temperament. 

He  entered  upon  his  new  career  in  1669,  when  he  was  de- 
spatched by  the  intendant  to  explore  the  copper-mines  of  Lake 
Superior.  From  this  expedition  he  returned  by  Lake  Erie,  and 
was  probably  the  first  white  navigator  who  sailed  upon  its 
waters.  Having  justly  earned  the  reputation  of  a  successful 
zwyagcur,  and  "as  a  man  of  great  experience  in  these  sort  of  dis- 
coveries," by  this  and  other  expeditions,  he  was  selected  by  "Jean 
Talon,  Intendant  of  Justice,  Police,  and  Finance  of  Canada" — an 
office  of  which  the  latter  was  the  first  incumbent,  to  command 
an  expedition  having  for  its  object  the  discovery  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  appointment  was  confirmed  by  the  governor,  Fron- 
tenac,  from  whom  he  received  instructions.  These  were,  "  to 
discover  the  south  sea  by  the  Mascoutins'  country  and  the 
great  river  Mississippi."  It  was  not  then  known  that  the  river 
of  which  they  had  heard  from  the  Indians  was  the  same  as 
that  which  had  already  been  discovered  by  de  Soto  and  others, 
and  whose  course  had  been  traced  upon  Spanish  maps  over  a 
hundred  years  before  that  time.  It  was  supposed  that  it  emp- 
tied into  the  Gulf  of  California  or  the  "South  Sea,"  the  great 
highway  to  China  and  Japan. 

Joliet  left  Quebec  in  the  fall  of  1672,  and  arrived  at  Mackinac, 
December  8th.  Here  he  remained  during  the  winter  and  spring, 
gathering  information  and  making  preparations  for  the  contin- 
uance of  his  journey.  At  the  missionary  station  of  St.  Ignace 
— the  location  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  determine,  having  been 
variously  described  as  being  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Straits  of 
Mackinac,  at  Old  Mackinaw,  and  on  the  Island  of  Mackinac* — 
he  met  Father  Jacques  Marquette,  the  missionary  in  charge. 

Among  other  arrangements  made,  and  perhaps  the  most  im- 

*  Shea,  H.  H.  Hurlbut,  and  others. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  $7 

portant,  was  the  securing  of  the  services  of  this  missionary  to 
accompany  him.  Marquette  had  no  official  connection  with  the 
expedition,  his  name  not  appearing  either  in  the  commission  by 
which  it  was  constituted  nor  in  the  governor's  report  of  its 
results.  He  was  simply  Joliet's  priestly  compagnon  du  voyage, 
for  which  position  he  was  well  qualified  by  reason  of  his  frontier 
experience,  his  devotion  to  his  calling,  and  his  acquaintance 
with  Indian  dialects,  six  of  which  he  was  able  to  speak.  He 
had  long  desired  to  make  such  a  trip,  and  gladly  availed  him- 
self of  the  opportunity  which  Joliet's  invitation  afforded. 

The  account  of  this  celebrated  expedition,  prepared  by  its 
leader,  together  with  a  map  of  the  country  traversed,  and  other 
valuable  mementoes,  was  unfortunately  lost  on  his  return,  by 
the  capsizing  of  his  canoe  near  Montreal,  while  about  to  land, 
as  he  says,  "  in  sight  of  the  first  French  settlements  which  I 
had  left  almost  two  years  before."  This  proved  to  be  a  serious 
loss.  However,  he  prepared  the  best  report  possible  without 
the  data  which  had  cost  so  many  months  of  arduous  labor 
to  obtain,  and  this,  together  with  a  map,  rude  in  design  and 
more  or  less  imperfect,  was  forwarded  to  France  by  Frontenac, 
in  November,  1674.  The  governor  reported  that  "he  has  dis- 
covered some  very  fine  countries,  and  a  navigation  so  easy  that 
a  person  can  go  from  Lake  Ontario  in  a  bark  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  there  being  only  one  carrying-place  half  a  league  in 
length.  He  has  been  within  ten  days'  journey  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico." 

The  loss  of  Joliet's  original  memoranda  was  to  some  extent 
repaired  by  the  narrative  of  his  companion,  Father  Marquette, 
which  assumes  to  be  circumstantial  regarding  dates,  localities, 
and  events.  The  final  outfit  of  the  expedition  consisted  of 
"two  birch-bark  canoes,  five  men,  a  bag  of  corn-meal,  some 
dried  beef,  and  a  blanket  apiece";  besides  beads,  crosses,  and 
other  religious  articles.  Starting  on  May  17,  1673,  from 
St.  Ignace,  they  reached  the  Mascoutins  on  Fox  River,  June 
7.  Having  remained  here  three  days,  and  secured  guides, 
they  resumed  their  journey,  making  a  portage  to  the  Wisconsin 
River,  down  which  they  floated  until  they  reached  the  far-famed 
Mississippi,  on  June  17.  Proceeding  down  this  river,  on  June 
25,  they  landed  at  a  point  near  to  which  were  situated  three 


$8  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

Indian  villages.  These  they  visited,  and,  being  kindly  received, 
remained  until  the  end  of  the  month,  when  they  again  pro- 
ceeded on  their  journey. 

The  next  circumstance  deemed  by  Father  Marquette  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  deserve  special  mention  was  the  sight  of  the 
picture  on  the  rocky  bluff  above  Alton  of  the  Piasa  bird,  which 
excited  as  much  apprehension  as  if  it  had  been  alive.  He  de- 
scribes it  as  being  "as  large  as  a  calf,  having  horns  on  the  head 
like  a  deer,  with  a  frightful  look,  bearded  like  a  tiger,  face  some- 
what like  a  man's,  body  covered  with  scales,  and  a  tail  going 
twice  around  the  body,  with  green,  red,  and  kind  of  black 
colors." 

He  next  describes  the  entrance  into  the  Mississippi  of  a  river 
which  he  called  the  Pekitanoui,  supposed  to  be  the  Missouri, 
than  "  the  noise  of  the  rapids  into  which  we  were  about  to  fall," 
he  declared,  he  "  had  seen  nothing  more  frightful."  Soon  after 
this  another  river,  which  he  names  the  Ouaboukigou,  was  passed, 
below  which  they  saw  and  entered  the  village  of  some  Indians 
armed  with  guns,  and  having  axes,  hoes,  knives,  and  beads, 
which  they  said  they  had  bought  of  some  Europeans  "  on  the 
eastern  side."  They  next  came  to  a  village  of  the  Mitchi- 
gamies,  where  they  spent  the  night,  and  the  next  day  arrived 
at  the  village  of  the  Akamseas,  which  he  locates  at  the  latitude 
of  about  310  40'. 

Being  convinced  from  information  received  from  the  Indians 
that  the  Mississippi  "had  its  mouth  in  Florida  or  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,"  and  that  they  were  in  danger  of  being  arrested  by 
the  Spaniards  if  they  proceeded  farther,  they  decided  to  termi- 
nate their  journey  southward  at  this  point.  On  July  17,  after  a 
day's  rest,  they  commenced  their  return  trip,  to  which  Father 
Marquette  devotes  but  one  page  of  his  journal.  The  first  inci- 
dent which  he  notes  is  their  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois. 
Having  been  assured  by  the  Indians  that  this  river  afforded  the 
most  direct  route  to  Mackinac,  they  followed  it  north  instead 
of  the  Mississippi.  Their  first- recorded  stop,  of  three  days' 
duration,  was  at  the  village  of  the  Peorias.  They  spent  some 
little  time  also  at  the  "  Illinois  town  called  Kaskaskias,"  where 
they  were  well  received,  and  to  which  the  father  promised  to 
return.    Escorted  by  one  of  the  chiefs  and  his  young  men  across 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  59 

the  portage  to  Lake  Michigan,  they  returned  to  the  mission  of 
Green  Bay,  where  they  arrived  "  in  the  close  of  September." 

This  narrative  of  Marquette  was  not  printed  by  the  French 
government,  as  were  other  similar  accounts,  but  a  copy  was 
obtained,  in  some  unexplained  way,  by  Thevenot,  a  well-known 
Paris  publisher,  who  issued  it  in  1681.  When  it  appeared,  its 
authenticity  was  at  once  disputed  by  LaSalle  and  other  ex- 
plorers, and  by  contemporary  but  rival  ecclesiastics.  The 
former  reported  to  the  king  that  he  was  assured  by  all  the 
nations  through  which  he  passed  on  his  way  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  in  1682,  that  he  was  the  first  European  who 
had  descended  or  ascended  that  river.  But  the  subsequent 
discovery,  in  1844,  of  the  original  manuscript  of  Marquette's 
journal  in  the  care  of  the  nuns  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  to  whose 
custody  it  had  been  transferred  from  the  Jesuit  college  of 
Quebec,  has  settled  the  question  of  its  genuineness  beyond 
doubt. 

Nevertheless,  it  must  be  admitted  that  its  credibility  is  open 
to  discussion.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  eminent  father 
reached  Green  Bay  too  enfeebled  by  the  exposures  and  labors 
of  his  journey  to  complete  his  narrative  until  the  lapse  of  twelve 
months  after  his  arrival.*  His  notes,  necessarily  imperfect,  had 
to  be  supplemented  by  recollections,  which  were  naturally  far 
less  vivid,  if  not  somewhat  distorted,  after  so  long  an  interval. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  would  not  be  strange  if  he  had 
fallen  into  grave  errors  relating  to  incidents,  distances,  and  dates. 
That  his  narrative  on  its  face  contains  erroneous  estimates  of 
latitude  is  not  denied,  while  the  coincidence  of  dates  ascribed  to 
events  happening  during  successive  months  is,  to  say  the  least, 
singular.  To  illustrate:  Joliet  set  out  from  Mackinac  on  May 
17,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  on  June  17,  and 
started  on  the  return  trip  July  17.  If  these  dates  are  correctly 
stated,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  explorers  could  have 
proceeded  as  far  south — the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River — as 
has  been  contended. 

They  were  thirty-one  days,  including  stoppages,  going  from 
Mackinac  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  a  distance  of  five  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three  miles,  proceeding  at  the  rate  of  nearly 

*  Shea. 


60  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

twenty  miles  per  day.  From  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  to 
that  of  the  Arkansas  the  distance  is  eleven  hundred  and  seventy 
miles,  which  is  stated  to  have  been  traversed  in  the  same  time,  a 
rate  of  speed  equal  to  nearly  forty  miles  per  day.  This  was 
unprecedented  for  that  period  and  mode  of  traveling.  LaSalle, 
with  greater  experience  and  superior  facilities,  occupied  fifty- 
three  days  in  going  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  the  sea,  a 
distance  of  fourteen  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  Tonty,  in  search 
of  LaSalle,  well  equipped  for  the  journey,  left  Fort  St.  Louis, 
February  16,  1686,  and  arrived  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  sixteen 
hundred  and  ninety  miles,  "in  holy  week,"  which  began  April 
7,  as  Easter  Sunday  that  year  fell  on  the  14th.  Conceding 
that  he  made  the  trip  in  fifty  days,  this  was  only  at  the  rate  of 
thirty-three  and  a  half  miles  per  day.  He  was  seventy  days  in 
returning  over  the  same  route.  St.  Cosme,  in  1699,  and  Father 
Gravier,  with  five  canoes  well  supplied,  the  year  following,  each 
occupied  about  the  same  time — twenty-two  days — in  making 
the  journey  from  the  village  of  Tamaroa  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas,  a  distance  of  about  six  hundred  miles. 

These  facts,  taken  in  connection  with  the  statement  of  Father 
Gravier  that  the  Ohio  River,  so  designated  by  the  Iroquois,  was 
called  by  the  Illinois  and  other  Indians  the  Akansea,  and 
that  the  tribe  of  Indians  by  that  name — Akanseas — "formerly 
dwelt  upon  it,"*  would  warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  village 
of  that  name,  referred  to  as  having  been  last  visited  by  Joliet, 
was  not  very  far  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  And  as  cor- 
roborative evidence  of  such  a  conclusion,  the  first  map  made 
by  Joliet  on  his  return  shows  the  Mississippi  only  a  little  below 
the  Ohio  River.-f- 

As  confirmatory  of  the  doubt  here  suggested,  Father  Anas- 
tase  Douay,  a  priest  of  the  Recollects,  in  his  account  of 
LaSalle's  last  expedition,  declares  positively  that  Joliet  did 
not  descend  the  Mississippi  farther  than  Cape  St.  Anthony, 
where  he  was  arrested  by  the  Mausopela  Indians  and  turned 
back.  He  also  states  that  he  had  with  him  "the  printed  book 
[Thevenot's  "Marquette"]  of  this  pretended  discovery,  and  re- 
marked all  along  the  route  that  there  was  not  a  word  of  truth 
in  it,"  an  assertion  now  known  to  be  entirely  too  broad. 

*  Shea's  "Early  Voyages,"  120.  t  Winsor's  "America,"  IV.,  212. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  6 1 

But  while  these  criticisms  may  reflect  upon  the  credibility  of 
some  of  the  statements  made  in  the  only  journal  of  Joliet's 
expedition  which  has  been  preserved,  they  do  not  detract  from 
the  credit  due  to  him  as  the  discoverer  of  one  portion  of  the 
upper  Mississippi,  whose  course  he  followed  down  to,  if  not 
below,  the  junction  of  the  Ohio,  and  whose  waters  he  ascer- 
tained emptied  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Joliet  returned  to  Quebec  in  August,  1674.  In  April,  167^, 
he  applied  to  Minister  Colbert  for  permission  to  settle  with  a 
colony  in  "the  Illinois  country,"  which  was  refused  him  on  the 
ground  that  Canada  ought  first  to  be  built  up,  strengthened, 
and  improved.*  In  1680,  he  was  appointed  hydrographer  to 
the  king,  and  afterward  made  a  voyage  to  Honduras  Bay,  and, 
as  a  reward  for  his  services,  was  given  the  island  of  Anticosti. 
In  1697,  he  was  granted  the  seigniory  of  Joliet  on  the  river 
Etchemins,  south  of  Quebec.  He  died  in  1700,  and  among  his 
descendants,  who  yet  reside  in  Canada,  are  the  Archbishops  of 
Taschereau  and  Tache,  and  the  Hon.  Bartholomew  Joliet.  His 
name  will  be  forever  connected  with  that  of  Illinois,  and  has 
been  given  to  one  of  its  most  enterprising  young  cities. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  stated  that,  while  from  the  pub- 
lished accounts  of  these  early  explorations  in  the  Northwest  the 
honor  of  "first  discoveries"  of  particular  localities  is  apportioned 
according  to  the  statements  and  claims  therein  made,  it  is  far 
from  certain  that  such  claims  are  correct  or  just.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  the  first  explorers  were  the  fur- 
traders,  trappers,  and  voyageurs,  who  never  took  the  trouble,  had 
they  been  competent  of  doing  so,  to  leave  any  record  of  what 
they  saw  and  did.  Nor  were  the  facts  of  prior  explorations 
by  others  mentioned,  if  known,  except  incidentally,  but  rather 
suppressed,  possibly  through  a  latent  fear  that  they  might 
detract  from  other  claims.  Thus  when  Marquette  returned  to 
Illinois,  in  1675,  it  is  stated  in  the  narrative  of  his  second  visit 
that  he  found  a  French  surgeon  and  two  other  Frenchmen 
already  on  the  ground  at  one  Illinois  village.  And  it  further 
appears  that  one  of  these,  Pierre  Moreau  called  LaTaupine, 
who  was  at  the  St.  Lusson  congress,  was  in  the  Illinois  country 
trading,  when  Joliet  was  there.-f"     It  is  therefore  more  than 

*  Margry,  I.,  330. 

+  Winsor's  "Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,"  IV.,  181. 


62  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

probable  that  not  only  Moreau,  but  many  other  French  traders, 
had  traveled  over  the  Illinois  country  and  other  portions  of  the 
Northwest  during  the  thirty  years  which  had  elapsed  since  its 
discovery  by  Nicolet,  long  before  either  Joliet  or  LaSalle. 

5.  Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur  de  LaSalle,  was  the  greatest  of 
those  early  explorers  whose  efforts  were  made  available  by 
the  French  government.  To  him  may  fairly  be  attributed 
the  credit  of  securing  the  possession  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
to  that  nation.  He  received  his  name  from  his  ancestral  estate, 
near  Rouen  in  France,  where  he  was  born  in  November,  1643. 
He  belonged  to  a  family  of  merchants,  and  was  "capable 
and  learned  in  every  branch,  especially  mathematics."*  If  he 
entered  the  Society  of  the  Jesuits,  as  is  stated  upon  the  unsup- 
ported and  doubtful  authority  of  Father  Hennepin,  he  soon 
wearied  of  ecclesiastical  control,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
years  decided  to  begin  active  life  in  Canada,  whither  an  elder 
brother,  the  able  Jean  Cavelier,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  had  pre- 
ceded him.  Having  received  a  large  grant  of  land  at  Lachine, 
near  Montreal,  he  began  to  gather  settlers  about  him  and  to 
engage  in  trade. 

On  coming  in  contact  with  the  Indians  here,  he  heard  from 
them  the  story  of  other  portions  of  the  country,  including  great 
rivers  and  lakes,  and  even  seas,  hitherto  unknown.  His  active, 
teeming  brain  at  once  formed  the  design  of  visiting  this  terra 
incognita  himself.  Enlisting  the  governor,  Courcelle,  and  the 
intendant,  Talon,  in  his  behalf,  he  organized  a  force  and  set  out 
on  his  first  expedition.  This  was  in  1669.  Having  had  a  dis- 
agreement with  the  priests  who  accompanied  him,  he  separated 
from  them  at  an  Indian  village,  near  Grand  River,  and  pro- 
ceeded on  his  journey  by  himself.  He  was  gone  for  over 
two  years,  and  it  is  said,  though  the  point  appears  not  defi- 
nitely settled,  that  during  this  time  and  on  this  trip  he  discov- 
ered the  river  Ohio.  It  is  further  claimed"!*  that  he  descended 
that  stream  to  the  Mississippi;  and  that,  in  1671,  returning  to 
Lake  Michigan,  he  crossed  the  Chicago  portage  to  the  Illinois, 
by  which  he  again  reached  the  Mississippi,  and  descended  to  the 
thirty-sixth  parallel  of  north  latitude.  From  that  point,  having 
neither  men  nor  means  to  prosecute  his  journey,  he  returned. 

*  Father  LeClerq.  +  Margry,  I.,  378. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  63 

The  authorities  given  to  support  this  claim  are  a  "Historie," 
cited  by  P.  Margry,  his  biographer,  purporting  to  have  been 
written  prior  to  1678,  from  conversations  with  LaSalle;  and  a 
letter  from  his  niece,  in  1753.  But  the  affirmative  evidence  of 
these  papers  is  hardly  of  sufficient  weight  to  justify  a  satisfac- 
tory conclusion  in  favor  of  this  claim,  in  the  light  of  known 
and  admitted  facts.  These  are,  that  in  his  memorials  to  the 
king,  irl  1674  and  1676,  he  made  no  pretense  of  having  made 
any  special  discoveries  around  Lake  Michigan,  or  of  the  Illinois 
or  the  Mississippi  rivers.  There  was  no  apparent  reason  to 
justify  the  suppression  of  the  facts  of  other  discoveries,  if  made 
by  him,  which  did  not  equally  apply  to  those  he  claimed. 

To  these  considerations  may  also  be  added  the  further  fact 
that  Gov.  Frontenac,  his  patron  and  friend,  who  was  con- 
versant with  his  plans  and  achievements,  in  submitting  his 
report  of  Joliet's  expedition  in  1674,  long  after  LaSalle's  re- 
turn, expressly  states  that  it  was  believed  that  "water  commu- 
nications could  be  found  leading  to  the  Vermilion  and  Califor- 
nia seas  by  means  of  the  river  that  flows  from  the  west  [the 
Missouri]  into  the  grand  river  [the  Mississippi]  that  he  [Joliet] 
discovered,  which  runs  from  north  to  south,  and  is  as  large  as 
the  St.  Lawrence  opposite  Quebec."  It  is  not  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  Frontenac  would  have  made  such  a  report  if 
LaSalie  had  made  the  same  discoveries  prior  to  Joliet,  nor  is  it 
likely  that  LaSalle  would  have  failed  to  assert  his  claim  had 
it  been  valid.  There  were  no  motives  of  modesty  or  diplo- 
macy requiring  him  to  suppress  it.* 

While  the  report  of  this  expedition  is  defective  in  point  of 
completeness,  and  the  actual  results  of  the  Voyage  yet  remain 
somewhat  in  dispute,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  journey 
was  fruitful  of  knowledge  and  experience  to  guide  LaSalle 
in  his  further  operations.  He  had  certainly  traveled  over 
a  large  portion  of  new  country  and  obtained  important  infor- 
mation regarding  its  lakes  and  rivers,  which  was  of  great  value 
in  future  explorations.  Having  satisfied  himself,  either  from 
his  own  knowledge  or  from  the  reports  of  others,  that  the  Mis- 

*  Parkman  thinks  that  LaSalle,  on  his  first  expedition,  did  discover  the  Illinois, 
but  not  the  Mississippi.  Shea  thinks  he  entered  the  St.  Joseph  River.  Butterfield 
admits  the  claim  of  Margry  in  favor  of  LaSalle  in  full. 


64  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

sissippi  River  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  he  conceived 
the  plan  of  organizing  a  great  establishment  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  to  control  its  trade  and  direct  its  permanent  occupancy. 

As  a  part  of  his  plan  to  fortify  the  road  from  Canada  to  the 
West,  in  the  summer  of  1674,  with  the  aid  of  the  government, 
he  erected  Fort  Frontenac  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Ontario,  where 
Kingston  now  stands.  Of  this  fort  he  obtained  a  grant  in 
seigniory,  in  consideration  of  which  he  agreed  to  plant  a  colony 
around  it,  to  build  a  church,  and  to  form  a  settlement  of  domes- 
ticated Indians.  He  visited  France  in  the  fall  of  1677,  and, 
having  made  his  plans  known  to  the  king,  was  given  authority 
"to  labor  at  the  discovery  of  the  western  parts  of  our  aforesaid 
country  of  New  France,"  to  build  forts  and  enjoy  the  possession 
thereof,  and  was  also  granted  "  the  sole  right  of  trade  in  buffalo 
hides;"  the  reason  being,  as  stated  in  the  letters-patent,  "be- 
cause there  is  nothing  we  have  more  at  heart  than  the  discovery 
of  this  country,  through  which,  to  all  appearance,  a  way  may 
be  found  to  Mexico."     This  charter  was  dated  May  12,  1678. 

The  policy  of  the  French  government,  ably  seconded  by  its 
official  representatives  in  Canada,  was  to  prevent  and  anticipate 
Spanish  and  possibly  British  encroachments  on  the  southern 
coast  of  the  new  domain,  and  to  secure  that  country  perma- 
nently to  the  French.  LaSalle  the  more  willingly  yielded  him- 
self as  the  instrument  for  accomplishing  this  purpose,  since  its 
realization  would  naturally  tend  to  the  furthering  of  his  own 
schemes  for  intercolonial  settlement  and  trade. 

Returning  to  Montreal,  after  surmounting  obstacles  which 
would  have  proved  insuperable  to  a  weaker  spirit,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  fitting  out  his  second  expedition.  With  the  aid  of 
Henry  de  Tonty,  and  his  lieutenant,  La  Forest,  he  constructed  a 
vessel  which  he  called  the  Griffon,  of  forty-five  tons  burthen, 
upon  which  he  embarked  on  Lake  Erie,  August  7,  1679.  He 
proceeded,  by  way  of  Detroit,  through  lakes  St.  Clair  and  Huron, 
to  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace,  near  Mackinac.  Leaving  here 
early  in  September,  he  sailed  for  Green  Bay.  There  he  loaded 
his  vessel  with  furs,  and  started  it  on  its  return,  September  18. 
On  the  same  day,  with  seventeen  men  and  two  missionaries,  in 
four  canoes,  he  resumed  his  journey,  skirting  the  west  shore 
of  Lake   Michigan  and   coasting  around   its  southern  border, 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  65 

until  he  reached  the  river  St.  Joseph,  November  1.  At  this 
point  he  had  appointed  a  rendezvous  for  twenty  Frenchmen  of 
his  party,  whom  he  had  directed  to  come  by  the  opposite  shore 
under  Tonty,  and  who  arrived  some  three  weeks  thereafter. 
Erecting  a  fort  here,  afterward  known  as  Fort  Miami,  and  leav- 
ing four  men  as  its  guard,  he,  with  his  party,  now  numbering 
thirty-three,  on  December  3,  resumed  his  journey  by  the 
way  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  Kankakee  rivers  to  the  Illinois. 
Passing  down  that  stream,  he  found  the  great  Indian  town  at 
the  Rock  deserted. 

On  January  4,  1680.  he  passed  through  Peoria  Lake,  and  on 
the  next   morning   arrived  at   the   Indian  village  of  the  same 
name,  where  he  had  a  conference  with  the  head  men.     Here,  as 
a  precautionary  measure,  six  of  his  men  having  deserted  and  __ 
the  attitude  of  the   Indians  toward    him  being  uncertain,  he  L- 
resolved  for  the  protection  of  his  party  to  build  a  fort.     Select-  / 
ing  a  site  about  four  miles  south  of  the  village  and  two  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  he  erected  a 
rude  fort,  which  he  called  Crevecceur,  the  first  structure  erected 
by  white  men  in  Illinois.     As  all  remains  of  this  fort  have  long 
since  disappeared,  its  precise  location  can  not  now  be  deter- 
mined. 

Not  having  heard  from  his  vessel  on  the  lake  with  its  ex- 
pected supplies,  and  needing  iron,  ropes,  and  sails  for  the  new 
one  he  was  building  with  which  to  continue  his  expedition,  he 
resolved  to  return  to  Fort  Frontenac.  Before  starting,  however, 
in  order  that  no  time  might  be  lost  in  consequence  of  his 
absence,  he  directed  Michel  Accault,  as  commander,  with  whom 
were  associated  Picard  du  Gay,  representing  trade,  and  Father 
Louis  Hennepin  the  cross,  to  proceed  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois  River,  and  thence  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  country  of 
the  Sioux.* 

On  March  I,  1680,  LaSalle,  accompanied  by  four  Frenchmen 
and  one  Indian,  began  his  journey  east.  Pushing  on  across  the 
country,  amid  snow  and  ice,  making  rafts  or  canoes  as  the  emer- 
gency required,  he  reached  the  St.  Joseph  River,  March  24, 
and  Fort  Frontenac,  May  6,  traveling  a  thousand  miles  under 

*  See  Father  Hennepin's  "Description  of  Louisiana, "  translated  by  J.  G.  Shea; 
it  is  not  material  to  this  history. 

5 


66  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

such  disadvantages  in  sixty-five  days.  Proceeding  to  Montreal, 
from  which  point  he  returned  to  his  fort  in  eight  days,  he  com- 
pleted his  preparations  "to  go  on  with  his  discoveries."  But  he 
soon  received  important  and  very  unwelcome  news  from  his  party 
in  Illinois,  which  changed  his  plans  and  delayed  his  departure.* 

Tonty,  who  had  been  left  in  command  at  Fort  Crevecceur, 
had  been  ordered  by  LaSalle  after  his  departure  to  proceed 
and  fortify  "le  Rocher"  or  the  Rock,  a  site  which  had  attracted 
his  attention  en  route,  and  which  he  thought  was  a  more  desir- 
able situation  for  defensive  operations  than  the  other.  After 
Tonty  had  set  out,  in  obedience  to  this  command,  taking  with 
him  Fathers  Membre  and  Ribourde  and  three  other  Frenchmen, 
those  left  behind  mutinied,  and,  having  taken  possession  of 
the  ammunition,  supplies,  and  other  property,  destroyed  and 
deserted  the  fort. 

Tonty  remained  at  the  Indian  village  near  the  Rock  during 
the  summer,  and  was  there  when  the  attack  was  made  by  the 
Iroquois,  September  10,  as  heretofore  mentioned.  In  his  efforts 
to  make  peace  between  the  belligerents,  he  was  suspected  by 
both  parties,  and  was  pretty  roughly  handled  by  the  Iroquois, 
narrowly  escaping  with  his  life.  Having  determined  to  exter- 
minate the  Illinois,  the  Iroquois  prepared  to  break  the  treaty 
which  Tonty  had  been  instrumental  in  making,  and  ordered 
him  to  leave.  This  he  was  compelled  to  do,  and  after  many 
hardships  and  wanderings,  and  the  loss  of  Father  Ribourde, 
who  was  killed  by  a  Kickapoo  Indian,  he  finally  reached  a 
village  of  the  Pottawatomies,  where  he  spent  the  winter. 

The  fact  of  the  desertion  of  a  portion  of  his  force  was  con- 
veyed to  LaSalle  by  two  men,  Messer  and  Laurent,  sent  to  him 
by  Tonty.  Having  also  learned  that  the  deserters  had  com- 
mitted like  depredations  at  Fort  Miami,  and  had  stolen  his  furs 
stored  at  Mackinac,  and  that  they  were  making  their  way  back 
to  Montreal,  he  determined  to  give  them  such  a  reception  as 
their  treachery  deserved.  Being  informed  that  they  had  divided 
into  two  parties,  he  laid  his  plans  and  captured  both — the  first 
without  resistance,  and  the  other  after  killing  two  of  them. 
The  prisoners  confessed  their  treason  and  were  placed  in  irons, 
to  be  disposed  of  by  the  governor.-f* 

*  Margry,  I.,  496.  t  Margry,  I.,  500. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  67 

Having  satisfactorily  passed  through  this  critical  episode  in 
his  history,  on  August  10,  1680,  with  twenty-five  men,  he  set 
out  on  his  second  expedition  to  the  country  of  the  Illinois.  By 
this  time  he  had  become  exceedingly  anxious  regarding  the  fate 
of  Tonty,  upon  whose  strong  arm  he  greatly  relied  for  success, 
and  from  whom  he  had  not  heard  since  soon  after  his  departure 
from  Fort  Crevecceur.  He  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph  River,  November  4.  At  a  village  of  the  Miamis  near 
by  he  was  told  of  the  defeat  of  the  Illinois  by  the  Iroquois, 
which  increased  his  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  fate  of  Tonty.  • 
Proceeding  on  his  journey,  he  arrived  at  the  Illinois  village  near 
"the  Rock,"  where  he  saw  the  fearful  evidences  of  the  Iroquois 
raid.  A  great  many  dead  bodies  yet  unburied  and  partly  eaten 
by  the  wolves  were  seen;  but,  upon  a  careful  examination,  he 
saw  nothing  to  indicate  the  death  of  any  Frenchmen. 

Arriving  at  Fort  Crevecceur,  he  found  it  "  almost  entirely 
demolished."  The  Iroquois  had  been  there,  and  had  taken  the 
nails  out  of  his  vessel,  but  had  not  otherwise  damaged  it.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  he  attached  to  a  tree  a  letter  for 
Tonty,  advising  him  of  his  whereabouts,  and  leaving  near  by 
a  canoe,  hatchet,  and  some  skins,  for  his  use.  Returning,  he 
arrived  at  Fort  St.  Joseph  the  last  of  January,  1681,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  winter.  He  had  repeated  con- 
ferences with  various  tribes  of  savages,  chiefly  the  Illinois  and 
Miamis.  He  enlarged  upon  the  benefits  which  would  accrue 
to  them  from  a  union  with  the  French,  whom  he  portrayed  as 
their  natural  friends  and  defenders.  His  arguments  proved 
so  convincing  that  he  was  enabled  to  form  important  alliances 
with  all  the  tribes  represented. 

The  following  spring  he  received  his  first  authentic  news 
from  Tonty,  being  informed  by  some  Pottawatomies  that  the 
latter  had  passed  the  winter  among  them.  On  May  25,  he  left 
St.  Joseph  for  Mackinac,  where — after  so  long  a  separation  and 
a  succession  of  so  many  important  events — his  eyes  were  glad- 
dened by  the  sight  of  his  ever-faithful  second  in  command,  as 
well  as  of  Father  Membre.  Here  he  learned  that  the  machi- 
nations of  his  enemies  at  Montreal  rendered  it  necessary  for 
him  to  return  once  more  to  Frontenac,  whither  he  and  Tonty 
at  once  proceeded. 


68  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Reaching  Montreal,  he  found  that  clamorous  creditors  had 
threatened  to  seize  upon  his  property  to  satisfy  debts  con- 
tracted in  the  furtherance  of  his  schemes  of  exploration.  But 
his  indomitable  will  and  fertility  in  resource  enabled  him  not 
only  to  appease  their  importunities  but  even  to  secure  further 
advances.  With  the  funds  thus  obtained  he  procured  fresh 
supplies,  and  forthwith  started  on  his  third  voyage,  arriving  at 
Fort  Miami  in  November.  Here  reorganizing  his  force,  which 
consisted  of  twenty-three  Frenchmen,  eighteen  Indians,  ten 
squaws,  and  three  children,  on  December  23,  168 1,  he  again  set 
out  on  his  long  journey,  this  time  going  by  what  he  called  the 
Chicago  River,  where  his  faithful  lieutenant,  Tonty,  had  pre- 
ceded him,  and  thence  by  the  Desplaines  River  to  the  Illinois. 
Passing  down  that  river,  the  Indian  villages  being  found  depop- 
ulated, they  arrived  at  its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi,  Feb- 
ruary 6,  1682.  Being  detained  by  the  ice,  his  journey  was  not 
resumed  until  the  13th.  Landing  at  the  third  Chickasaw  Bluffs 
on  February  26,  he  built  a  small  fort,  calling  it  Fort  Prud- 
homme,  after  one  of  his  party  supposed  to  have  been  lost 
there,  but  who  was  afterward  recovered. 

He  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  March  12,  passing 
at  that  point,  as  at  several  others  en  route,  Indian  villages,  where 
he  had  interviews  with  the  braves  of  different  tribes.  At  length, 
on  April  7,  1682,  he  was  rewarded  for  his  many  years  of  toil, 
danger,  and  suffering  by  beholding  the  long-sought  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Two  days  thereafter  he  erected  a  column  bearing  the 
arms  of  France,  and  after  chanting  the  Te  Deum,  amid  volleys  of 
musketry  and  shouts  of  Vive  le  Roi,  he  took  possession  of  the 
country,  which,  in  honor  of  the  king,  had  already  been  called 
Louisiana,*  "and  all  the  nations,  peoples,  provinces  and  cities, 
towns,  villages,  mines,  minerals,  fisheries,  streams  and  rivers 
within  the  extent  of  the  said  Louisiana,  and  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio,  and  also  along  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  rivers 
which  discharge  themselves  thereinto,  from  its  source  as  far  as 
its  mouth  at  the  sea,  being  the  first  Europeans  who  have 
descended  and  ascended  said  river ;"-f*  claiming  to  have  acquired 
this  right  "  by  consent  of  the  natives  dwelling  herein." 

*  It  is  claimed  that  the  name  "  Louisiana "  originated  with  Father  Hennepin, 
t  LaSalle's  "Proces  Verbal." 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  69 

On  his  return  trip,  begun  on  April  9,  he  was  taken  sick 
at  Fort  Prudhomme.  Tonty  was  sent  forward  to  Mackinac 
to  make  known  the  success  of  the  expedition,  and  LaSalle, 
having  recovered,  joined  him  there  in  September.  He  now 
proceeded  to  carry  out  his  plan  of  establishing  a  colony  at 
the  Rock,  just  above  the  Indian  town  of  Lavantum,  which 
"  was  to  answer  the  double  purpose  of  a  bulwark  against  the 
Iroquois  and  as  a  place  of  storage  for  the  furs  of  all  the  western 
tribes."  Tonty  was  sent  on  in  advance  to  begin  the  work  of 
fortification. 

This  Rock  is  an  isolated  cliff,  an  offset  from  the  adjoining 
bluffs,  almost  round,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  high, 
and  its  top,  containing  nearly  three-fourths  of  an  acre,  can  be 
reached  only  by  a  steep,  rocky  ascent  on  the  eastern  side.  Its 
other  three  sides  are  nearly  perpendicular  and  its  northern  base 
is  washed  by  the  Illinois  River.  It  was  then,  and  is  now,  a 
natural  fortress,  and  properly  provisioned  could  defy  any  attack- 
ing force.  Situated  eight  miles  from  Ottawa,  it  is  a  striking 
landmark,  from  the  top  of  which  an  extensive,  varied,  and 
beautiful  view  of  hills,  river,  prairie,  forest,  villages,  and  farm- 
houses is  obtained.  Stunted  trees  and  brush  grow  on  its  top, 
as  they  do  from  the  crevices  of  the  superincumbent  layers  of 
stone  on  its  sides.  These  being  cleared  away,  a  block,  store, 
and  dwelling-house  was  erected,  outworks  thrown  up,  the  re- 
mains of  which  are  still  to  be  seen,  and  palisades  built  around  it. 
Water  was  drawn  from  the  river  by  a  windlass,  and  two  small 
cannon  were  mounted  on  the  wooden  rampart,  from  which  a 
salute  was  fired  as  the  French  flag  was  displayed  to  view  when 
the  fort  was  completed.  Father  Zenobe  Membre  offered  a  dedi- 
catory prayer,  and  the  fort  was  named  St.  Louis  of  the  Rock. 

At  this  fort  and  in  its  vicinity,  in  accordance  with  the 
arrangement  made  by  LaSalle  and  in  pursuance  of  his  invita- 
tion, his  Indian  allies  began  to  assemble,  in  the  summer  of 
1682,  in  large  numbers.  The  ancient  village  near  by  soon  pre- 
sented a  picture  of  life  and  animation,  in  striking  contrast  to 
its  deserted  appearance  after  the  invasion  of  the  Iroquois. 
Every  cabin  or  lodge  of  bark  and  rushes  was  filled  with  the 
families  of  contented  natives,  who  now  felt  that  their  safety 
and  protection  were  assured. 


JO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

LaSalle  arrived  in  December,  and  from  his  elevated  fortress 
beheld,  with  a  pride  and  satisfaction  new  to  him,  the  evidence 
that  his  hopes  and  ambitions  were  about  to  be  crowned  with 
success.  The  camps  and  villages  of  his  allies  were  on  every 
side.  To  the  south  were  the  Illinois,  to  the  number  of  six  or 
seven  thousand;  the  Miamis,  numbering  thirteen  hundred  war- 
riors, occupied  Buffalo  Rock,  a  high  cliff  on  the  north  side  of 
the  river,  two  miles  off;  to  the  east  were  the  Shawnees,  two 
hundred  strong;  and  near  by,  the  Piankashaws  and  Weas,  six 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  other  Miamis,  five  hundred  and  thirty 
strong;  in  all  thirty-eight  hundred  and  eighty  warriors,  and, 
including  women  and  children,  a  population  of  over  twenty 
thousand.*  He  beheld  not  only  his  allies,  but  his  own  country- 
men, who  had  come  in  large  numbers  to  assist  in  building  up 
the  colony.  They  built  houses,  of  a  better  class  than  the  Indians 
had  known,  and  planted  large  fields  with  corn  and  other  vege- 
tables; and  the  new  colony  was  thus  begun  with  every  pros- 
pect of  success. 

The  securing  and  carrying  on  of  the  fur-trade  was  the 
great  bone  of  contention  among  all  the  early  white  settlers 
of  North  America.  It  was  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  the  natives, 
and  was  the  price  of  the  friendship  and  support  of  their 
foreign  visitors.  Although  attended  with  great  difficulties  and 
dangers,  the  large  profits  derived  from  it  very  soon  enlisted  a 
class  of  immigrants,  principally  a  lower  order  of  French,  mostly 
boatmen,  called  courcurs  des  bois  or  rangers  of  the  wood.  They 
became  active  participants  in  the  trade.  Their  experience  in 
the  new  world  had  made  them  hardy,  reckless,  and  improvi- 
dent, preferring  a  roaming  life  in  the  wild  woods  to  the 
comforts  of  a  settled  home.  Their  dress,  consisting-  of  lea-- 
gins,  moccasins,  and  a  blanket  girdled  by  a  red  sash,  so  closely 
resembled  that  of  the  natives  that  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish 
the  one  from  the  other.  Thus  arrayed,  and  armed  with  a  fusee, 
a  scalping-knife,  and  hatchet,  they  were  eager  for  any  adven- 
ture, provided  it  led  them  away  from  the  restraints  of  civilized 
life. 

The  articles  of  trade  with  the  Indians  consisted  of  cotton 
cloth,  blankets,  calicos,  guns,  hatchets,  and  other  implements  of 

*  Parkman. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  7 1 

hardware,  and  cheap  ornaments.  No  standard  of  values  existed, 
but  there  came  to  be  adopted  a  system  of  equivalents  upon 
which  trades  were  negotiated;  that  is,  an  iron  hoe  and  an 
ax,  a  knife  and  a  file,  a  pocket  looking-glass  and  pair  of  scissors, 
were  reckoned  of  equal  value. 

The  terms  of  the  alliance  between  LaSalle  and  the  Indians, 
upon  which  the  colony  at  Fort  St.  Louis  was  established,  were 
intended  to  be  reciprocally  advantageous.  On  the  part  of 
LaSalle,  he  undertook  to  assist  his  dusky  allies  in  their  wars 
with  the  Iroquois  and  other  enemies;  in  return  for  which  the 
Indians  agreed  to  dispose  of  their  furs  to  him  only,  in  ex- 
change for  such  articles  of  merchandise  as  they  might  need 
or  desire;  that  is  to  say,  the  conditions  of  the  compact  were 
mutual  protection  and  trade.  It  was  confidently  expected 
that  this  agreement,  consummated  under  such  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, could  scarcely  fail  to  result  in  the  establishment 
of  a  permanent,  prosperous  settlement,  the  betterment  of  the 
condition  of  the  savages,  and  last,  but  perhaps  not  least,  in 
immense  pecuniary  profit  to  LaSalle.  But,  unfortunately  for 
the  latter,  such  was  not  to  be  the  case. 

The  great  explorer  spent  the  summer  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  amid 
the  most  encouraging  prospects.  But  in  the  meantime,  Fron- 
tenac  had  been  succeeded  as  governor  of  New  France  by  An- 
toine  Joseph  le  Febvre  de  la  Barre.  The  latter  soon  discovered 
that  the  plans  and  operations  of  LaSalle  had  blocked  the  way 
for  the  realization  of  his  own  schemes,  and  that,  if  permitted  to 
continue,  he  would  soon  monopolize  the  fur-trade,  with  its  enor- 
mous profits  and  political  possibilities.  He  therefore  took 
prompt  measures  to  render  impossible  the  further  successful 
prosecution  of  the  great  enterprise  which  LaSalle  had  at  heart. 
He  cut  oft"  his  supplies,  detained  his  agents,  and  encouraged 
the  hostility  of  the  Iroquois.  Fort  Frontenac,  the  property  of 
LaSalle,  was  seized,  against  the  protest  of  his  creditors,  under 
the  pretext  that  the  conditions  of  its  grant  had  not  been  ful- 
filled. The  new  governor  commissioned  Chevalier  de  Baugis  to 
take  possession  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  although  Tonty  was  permitted 
to  remain  as  the  representative  of  the  colonial  interests. 

Had  the  French  governor  and  LaSalle  "pooled  their  is- 
sues," and,  instead  of  endeavoring  to  break  each  other  down, 


72  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

worked  together,  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  their  building 
up  a  colony  at  Fort  St.  Louis  which  would  have  been  of  great 
advantage  to  the  interests  of  each,  and  exerted  a  controlling 
influence  upon  the  destiny  of  New  France.  Had  agriculture 
and  permanent  settlements  been  encouraged,  in  connection 
with  the  traffic  with  the  Indians,  a  prosperous  and  powerful 
community  might  have  been  established,  which,  growing  and 
extending  to  other  equally  favorable  locations  in  the  Illinois 
country,  might  in  fifty  years  have  constituted  a  community 
which  would  have  proved  an  insuperable  barrier  against  any 
foreign  encroachment,  in  consequence  of  its  ability  to  maintain 
its  own  integrity.  But  the  rapacity  of  the  one  and  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  other  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  result. 
The  time  had  not  yet  arrived,  nor  the  people,  to  settle  Illinois. 

To  meet  and  overcome  the  opposition  which  his  enemies  had 
set  on  foot  against  him,  LaSalle  determined  once  more  to  make 
his  appeal  directly  to  the  French  minister  in  Paris.  He  took 
what  proved  to  be  his  final  leave  of  Fort  St.  Louis  in  Septem- 
ber, 1683,  and  proceeded  to  France,  where  he  arrived  in  the 
spring  of  1684.  Here  he  was  again  successful  beyond  his  an- 
ticipations. He  was  re-instated  in  favor  at  court,  and  secured 
means  for  a  much  larger  expedition  than  he  had  yet  com- 
manded. It  consisted  of  four  vessels  and  a  hundred  soldiers, 
besides  mechanics  and  laborers,  and  thirty  volunteers,  "  includ- 
ing gentlemen  and  burghers  of  condition."  The  immediate 
object  of  this  expedition  was  the  establishment  of  a  fort  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  where  he  could  cooperate  with  and 
assist  his  colony  on  the  Illinois  River,  free  from  the  molestation 
of  the  authorities  at  Quebec.  The  particulars  of  this  voyage, 
how  he  sailed  to  the  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  as 
far  as  Matagorda  Bay  in  Texas,  his  disastrous  failure,  and 
assassination  by  two  of  his  men  on  March  19,  1687,  not  being 
facts  of  history  especially  relating  to  Illinois,  need  not  be  here 
detailed. 

LaSalle  was  a  man  of  wonderful  energy  and  indomitable 
perseverance;  but  he  possessed  neither  the  financial  ability  nor 
those  natural  endowments  of  leadership  essential  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  great  designs.  Impracticability  was  stamped 
upon  his  character  and  written  upon  all  his  works,  from  first  to 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  73 

last.  He  planned  better  than  he  performed;  he  was  morose 
distrustful,  and  unpopular;  he  quarrelled  with  his  equals  and 
was  haughty  and  overbearing  to  his  inferiors.  Visionary,  coura- 
geous, as  reckless  in  daring  as  he  was  lavish  in  expenditure, 
unscrupulous  in  the  observance  of  obligations  as  he  was  profuse 
in  promises,  he  was  always  in  debt.  His  life  had  been  frequently 
threatened ;  desertions  from  his  command  were  a  common  occur- 
rence; yet  he  persevered  till  the  last,  and  finally  fell  a  victim 
to  the  hatred  of  some  of  his  own  followers.  Notwithstanding 
the  tragic  close  of  his  career,  while  the  plans  which  he  con- 
ceived were  as  yet  inchoate,  it  was  through  his  efforts  that 
Louisiana  and  the  Illinois  country  were  secured  to  the  French, 
and  their  permanent  settlement  indirectly  effected. 

6.  Henry  de  Tonty,  next  to  LaSalle,  was  the  most  conspicu- 
ous figure  in  the  early  history  of  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Illinois.  He  carried  a  hand  made  of  copper,  in  lieu  of  one  lost 
in  battle,  and  this  he  used  against  his  foes  with  great  effect  as 
occasion  might  require.  He  was  called  "the  iron-handed;"  he 
was  also  strong-hearted,  faithful,  and  brave.  He  was  a  soldier 
of  fortune  from  Italy,  and  the  son  of  a  merchant  who  was  the 
originator  of  a  plan  for  raising  money,  now  well  known  as  the 
Tontine. 

Having  met  LaSalle  on  one  of  his  visits  to  France,  and, 
by  his  accounts,  being  incited  with  the  prospect  of  adventures  in 
a  new  country,  Tonty  very  gladly  accepted  his  invitation  to 
become  a  member  of  his  company,  and  sailed  with  him  from 
Rochelle  in  1678.  How  he  proved  to  be  his  most  trusty  lieu- 
tenant, accompanying  him  in  his  expeditions  with  great  fidelity 
and  courage,  has  already  been  shown.  After  the  departure  of 
LaSalle  for  France,  in  1683,  Tonty  and  Baugis  remained  in 
charge  at  the  fort,  representing  different  interests  and  having 
but  little  sympathy  with  each  other's  plans.  In  the  following 
March,  however,  the  approach  of  their  common  enemy,  the 
Iroquois,  compelled  them  to  unite  in  a  common  defence  of 
their  post.  They  were  besieged  for  six  days  by  their  deter- 
mined foes,  who  numbered  two  thousand  warriors;  but  such 
was  the  strength  of  their  position,  and  so  adequate  their  means 
of  defence,  that  the  hitherto  victorious  Iroquois  were  repulsed 
with  loss,  and  compelled  to  abandon  the  siege.     This  was  the 


74  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


last  invasion  of  the  savages  from  the  East.  Henceforth,  for 
many  years,  the  Illinois  and  allied  tribes  resumed  their  yearly 
residence  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  without  molestation.  The 
protecting  guns  of  the  French  and  the  presence  of  Tonty,  who 
made  the  fort  his  headquarters  for  eighteen  years,  rendered 
their  safety  secure.  It  was  also  the  abode  of  many  French 
traders  and  merchants,  with  their  families. 

From  this  point,  Tonty  ranged  the  western  world  over,  trad- 
ing, fighting,  and  exploring.  In  1686,  being  anxious  as  to  the 
fate  of  his  great  leader  LaSalle,  from  whom  he  had  not  heard, 
at  his  own  expense  he  fitted  out  an  expedition  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  in  search  of  him.  And  when,  after  his  return,  he  learned 
of  LaSalle's  violent  death,  he  fitted  out  another  in  search  of  the 
survivors  of  his  command.  He  made  at  least  six  trips  down  and 
up  the  Mississippi.  Besides  this,  he  visited  Montreal,  Mackinac, 
and  points  on  Lake  Michigan,  including  Fort  Chicago,  which  he 
says  was  in  command  of  Oliver  Morrell,  Sieur  de  la  Durantaye. 

In  1687,  with  a  force  of  two  hundred  Indians  and  fifty 
French,  he  proceeded  to  Canada  and  took  part  in  a  victorious 
campaign  with  the  Marquis  de  Denonville  against  the  Iroquois, 
thus  aiding  in  striking  them  a  blow  on  their  own  ground.  On 
his  return  he  brought  back  With  him  the  families  of  a  number 
of  French  immigrants,  soldiers,  and  traders.  This  arrival  of 
the  wives,  sisters,  children,  and  sweethearts  of  some  of  the 
colonists,  after  years  of  separation,  was  the  occasion  of  great 
rejoicing,  in  which  it  was  said  that  even  Father  Allouez  par- 
ticipated with  unwonted  freedom  and  fervor.  Life  at  the  fort, 
henceforth,  though  at  times  not  without  its  perilous  aspects, 
was  so  mingled  with  feats  of  adventurous  daring,  the  pleasures 
of  the  hunt,  the  table,  and  the  cup,  as  fully  to  satisfy  the 
desires  of  the  gay  and  light-hearted  children  of  France. 

In  1690,  the  proprietorship  of  Fort  St.  Louis  was  granted  to 
Tonty,  jointly  with  LaForest,  while  the  fur-trade  was  carried 
on  with  greater  or  less  success  until  his  final  departure  from 
the  country;  these  two,  being  excepted  from  the  royal  decree 
against  the  coureurs  dcs  bois,  were  permitted  to  send  out  two 
canoes  a  year  with  twelve  men,  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
fort.  In  1698-9,  he  accompanied  Rev.  J.  F.  Buisson  St.  Cosme 
on  his  trip,  with  a  company  of  priests,  from  Mackinac  down 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  75 

the  Mississippi  to  Natchez.  This  missionary  speaks  of  Tonty 
as  follows:  "I  can  not  express  our  obligations  to  him.  He 
guided  us  as  far  as  the  Akansas  and  gave  us  much  pleasure  on 
the  way.  He  facilitated  our  course  through  several  nations, 
winning  us  the  friendship  of  some  and  intimidating  those  who, 
from  jealousy  or  a  desire  to  plunder,  had  wished  to  oppose  our 
voyage.  He  has  not  only  done  the  duty  of  a  brave  man,  but 
also  discharged  the  functions  of  a  zealous  missionary.  He 
quieted  the  minds  of  our  employes  in  the  little  vagaries  that 
they  might  have,  and  supported  us  by  his  example  in  the  exer- 
cises of  devotion,  which  the  voyage  permitted  us  to  perform, 
very  often  approaching  the  sacraments.  *  *  He  is  believed 
by  all  the  voyagers  to  be  the  one  who  best  knows  the  country. 
He  was  loved  and  feared  by  all." 

In  1702,  the  governor  of  Canada,  claiming  that  the  charter 
of  the  fort  had  been  violated,  decided  to  discontinue  it.  La- 
Forest  was  ordered  to  reside  in  Canada,  and  Tonty  on  the 
Mississippi.  Although  it  was  thus  officially  abandoned,  it  seems 
that  it  was  occasionally  occupied  as  a  trading-post  until  1718, 
when  it  was  raided  by  the  Indians  and  burned,  on  account  of 
the  alleged  licentiousness  of  the  French  inhabitants.  Deprived 
of  his  command  and  property,  Tonty  engaged  in  the  service  of 
Pierre  LeMoyne  d'  Iberville,  to  aid  him  in  his  efforts  to  colonize 
lower  Louisiana.  Here  he  was  employed  in  various  successful 
expeditions  until  in  September,  1704,  when,  according  to  one 
account,  he  died  at  Mobile.* 

But  according  to  the  Indian  tradition,  which,  although  of 
doubtful  authenticity,  is  more  in  harmony  with  the  romantic 
and  poetic  life  of  the  old  explorer,  at  the  close  of  a  day  in  the 
midsummer  of  17 18  he  once  more  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  in 
a  canoe  paddled  by  two  faithful  followers.  His  hair  frosted  by 
many  years  of  exposure,  enfeebled  in  body,  forsaken  by  those 
whom  he  had  befriended,  he  returned  at  last  to  the  familiar 
scene  of  his  former  triumphs,  where,  his  last  hours  consoled  by 

*  Another  authority  states  that  after  his  services  under  Iberville,  he  returned 
to  Canada,  and  was  employed  at  Detroit  in  17 13,  and  that  he  was  last  heard  of  on 
an  expedition  to  some  distant  Indians  in  171 7,  and  probably  died  in  Canada. 
(French's  "Louisiana,"  III.,  31 ;  VL,  61.)  But  the  Tonty  here  mentioned  was 
evidently  another  person,  a  relative  of  whom  Henry  speaks  in  his  memoirs. 


76  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

the  ministrations  of  his  church,  his  valiant  spirit  passed  away. 
Brave,  generous,  and  true,  no  man  contributed  more  to  the 
advancement  of  trade  and  the  occupation  of  the  Illinois  coun- 
try at  this  early  period  than  the  poorly- requited  Chevalier 
Henry  de  Tonty. 

Other  explorers,  whose  names  have  become  familiar  to  the 
student  of  the  early  history  of  the  Northwest,  and  whose 
accounts  or  memoirs,  containing  more  or  less  valuable  infor- 
mation, have  been  published,  are  as  follows: 

7.  Daniel  Greysolon  du  Lhut,  called  by  LaSalle  and  others 
du  Luth,  from  whom  the  city  of  that  name  was  called.  He 
was  from  Lyons,  France,  and  was  a  cousin  of  Henry  de  Tonty. 
His  explorations  covered  a  period  of  over  ten  years  from  1679, 
and  he  was  the  first  to  reach  the  Mississippi  directly  from  Lake 
Superior.     His  memoirs  bear  date  1683. 

8.  Henri  Joutel  was  a  fellow  townsman  of  LaSalle  and 
adhered  faithfully  to  his  fortunes;  he  was  with  him  on  his  last 
expedition,  of  which  he  wrote  a  full  and  intelligent  account; 
and  on  his  return,  he  spent  some  time  at  Fort  St.  Louis  with 
Tonty. 

9.  Pierre  LeSueur  was  the  discoverer  of  the  Minnesota 
River.  An  interesting  account  of  one  of  his  voyages  up  the 
Mississippi,  in  1700,  is  given  by  Penicaut,  who  accompanied  him. 

10.  Baron  la  Hontan  made  an  extensive  tour  in  the  North- 
west, passing  through  Illinois  in  1688-9,  °f  which  he  pub- 
lished a  glowing  account  in  1703.  His  book  was  illustrated, 
but  his  pictures  and  maps  bear  as  little  resemblance  to  the 
objects  which  they  were  intended  to  represent  as  the  drawings 
of  a  child  do  to  a  painting  by  Raphael.  His  statements  were 
often  exaggerated,  and  his  imagination  fully  employed.  His 
observations  are  frequently  shrewd  and  just,  and  his  descriptions 
of  what  he  saw  mainly  correct,  but  his  Indian  stories  are  gener- 
ally more  entertaining  than  truthful. 

Routes. — The  question  of  routes  followed  by  early  explorers 
between  Canada  and  the  country  of  the  Illinois  is  as  interest- 
ing as  it  has  been  provocative  of  discussion  among  speculative 
antiquarians.  But  as  the  investigation  is  not  now  of  much 
practical  value  to  the  ordinary  reader,  but  little  space  will  be 
given  to  it  in  these  pages. 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  TJ 

Perhaps  the  most  prolific  source  of  doubt  and  difficulty,  in 
the  endeavor  positively  to  trace  and  identify  any  particular 
route,  arises  from  the  confounding  of  newly-discovered  streams 
with  those  first  discovered,  the  same  name  being  required  to  do 
duty  for  rivers  as  distinct  as  the  individuality  of  the  explorers 
who  first  sailed  or  paddled  a  canoe  upon  them.  Thus  the  name 
Chicago,  in  its  various  orthographies,  was  applied  more  or  less 
indifferently  to  the  St.  Joseph,  the  Calumet,  the  Desplaines,  and 
the  Illinois  rivers.  Both  of  the  latter  were  also  called  the 
"Divine."  It  was  also  applied  to  the  country  adjacent  to  the 
southern  portion  of  Lake  Michigan.  Such  confusion  of  nomen- 
clature renders  it  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  deter- 
mine precisely  what  stream  or  locality  was  meant  when  either 
of  these  names  is  used  by  early  writers. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  fountain-head  of  informa- 
tion for  early  explorers  was  the  Indians.  To  them  even  the 
primitive  mode  of  transportation  by  horses  or  mules  was  un- 
known. They  knew  of  but  one  way  to  abridge  or  vary  tedious 
marches  through  forests  or  glades:  that  single  avenue  of  escape 
was  found  in  the  water-ways,  and  the  shortest  practicable  port- 
age connecting  these  was  welcomed  as  the  easiest  way  to  avoid 
the  physical  labor  which  they  considered  as  degrading  as  it 
was  irksome. 

There  were  four  possible  routes  which  could  be  used  in  going 
to  the  Illinois  from  Eastern  Canada,  the  choice  of  which 
depended  upon  the  stage  of  water  and  season  of  the  year,  and 
the  starting  and  the  objective  points. 

1.  One  of  these  was  from  Lake  Michigan  by  the  Calumet 
rivers,  which  connected  with  Stony  Brook,  from  which,  by  a 
short  portage,  the  Desplaines  was  easily  reached.  Beck,  in 
his  gazetteer  of  1823,  says,  in  speaking  of  this  route:  "The 
distance  is  eighteen  miles,  and  it  is  nearly  on  a  level  with  the 
lake.  It  is  said  boats  have  frequently  passed  through  this 
channel  to  the  Desplaines,  and  when  such  is  the  case  it  is 
impossible  in  many  places  to  say  whether  the  current  sets  to 
the  lake  or  the  Desplaines.  About  half-way  between  the  lake 
and  the  Desplaines,  a  feather  will  sometimes  float  one  way  and 
sometimes  the  other." 

2.  By  the  Grand  Calumet.     This  stream,  rising  a  few  miles 


78  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

southeast  of  Lake  Michigan,  near  what  is  now  Laporte,  Ind., 
ran  to  a  point  at  present  called  Blue  Island,  in  Cook  County, 
and  thence  turning  flowed  back  about  three  miles  north  of  its 
outward  course,  and  emptied  into  Lake  Michigan  at  a  point 
formerly  called  Indiana  City.  This  route  connected  with  the 
Desplaines,  the  same  as  route  one. 

3.  By  the  St.  Joseph  River.  Ascending  this  stream  about 
thirty-five  miles,  the  head-waters  of  the  Kankakee  River  were 
reached  by  a  portage  of  about  four  miles.  The  distance  to  the 
Illinois  River  by  the  Kankakee  was  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles,  but  only  eighty  across  the  country. 

4.  By  the  Chicago  River.  The  distance  by  this  route  from 
the  lake  to  the  Desplaines  by  the  South  branch,  including  a 
portage  of  four  miles,  was  twelve  miles.  The  North  branch 
was  also  doubtless  sometimes  used,  although  not  so  direct. 

Now  if  the  wayfarer  was  on  the  Illinois  River,  and  desired  to 
reach  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  at  Green  Bay,  as  did 
Joliet  in  1673,  the  most  direct  and  feasible  of  the  above- 
described  routes  would  be  either  the  first  or  fourth.  And 
whichever  way  was  taken  by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1673,  on  their  return  trip,  was  adopted  by  Marquette  on 
his  second  visit  in  1675,  for  he  observes  in  his  journal  of  the 
latter:  "March  31;  here  we  began  our  portage  more  than  eigh- 
teen months  ago." 

To  the  mariner  desiring  to  reach  the  Illinois  from  Mackinac, 
it  would  be  nearer  to  proceed  down  the  east  side  of  Lake 
Michigan  to  the  Grand  Calumet,  and  up  that  stream  to  where 
it  connected  with  route  one.  But  in  1679,  LaSalle,  being  at 
Green  Bay,  appointed  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  as  a  place 
of  rendezvous  for  his  expedition  en  route  for  the  Illinois,  and 
ordered  Tonty  to  proceed  thither  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake, 
while  he  coasted  along  its  western  and  southern  sides.  He  may 
have  known  of  the  St.  Joseph  route,  which  he  then  pursued,  and 
not  of  the  others;  or,  it  being  in  winter,  it  may  have  been  more  a 
question  of  good  ways  for  sleighs  than  of  water  navigation.  At 
all  events,  on  this  occasion  he  took  the  Kankakee  route.  And 
he  doubtless  went  over  the  same  course  on  his  second  trip, 
when  searching  for  Tonty.  On  his  third  trip  to  the  Illinois, 
which  was  also  in  the  winter,  168 1-2,  he  mentions  the  Chicago 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   AND   DISCOVERIES.  79 

River;  and  as  the  Grand  Calumet  is  plainly  marked  with  this 
name  on  his  map,  recently  discovered  in  Paris,  and  published 
by  Margry,  and  as  that  would  be  a  nearer  and  better  route  in 
the  winter  than  the  Kankakee  or  that  by  the  Chicago  River- 
as now  known,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  when  he  alluded  to 
the  "  Chicago  route "  he  referred  to  the  passage  of  the  Grand 
Calumet. 

As  early  as  1698,  a  mission  had  been  established  among  the 
Miamis,  called  Chicago.  It  is  evident  that  this  mission  was 
on  the  route  usually  followed  by  travelers,  wherever  that  was, 
along  the  southwestern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  St.  Cosme 
and  party  undoubtedly  followed  this  route  in  1699,  as  did 
Father  Gravier  the  year  following.  Prior  to  1684,  the  Chicago 
River,  as  now  known,  does  not  appear  upon  any  map  then 
extant.  At  least,  it  is  not  on  those  of  Marquette  and  Henne- 
pin; and  while  there  is  something  resembling  it  on  those  of". 
Joliet  and  LaSalle,  the  name  of  Chekagoua  is  plainly  given  by 
the  latter  to  the  Calumet,  as  stated  above.  Nor  does  it  appear 
on  that  of  Raffeix,  1688,  especially  designed  as  a  route  map. 
As  the  route  by  the  Little  Calumet  afforded  a  higher  stage  of 
water  for  navigation  in  the  dry  season,  and  was  a  better  location 
for  a  mission-house,  the  supposition  is  authorized  that  it  was. 
the  one  usually  taken  by  those  going  to  or  coming  from  the 
east  side  of  Lake  Michigan  to  or  from  the  Illinois  River.  A 
careful  examination  of  the  detailed  route  described  by  Mar- 
quette and  St.  Cosme,  and  of  the  landmarks  and  streams  which 
they  mention,  fully  justifies  such  a  conclusion.* 

After  the  abandonment  of  the  French  settlements  on  the 
Illinois  River,  and  the  emigration  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
friendly  Illinois  Indians  to  the  Mississippi,  in  1722,  neither  of 
the  foregoing  routes  were  any  longer  used  by  the  French  while 
they  held  the  country,  nor  indeed  by  any  whites  until  the  time 
of  the  Revolution. 

There  was  also  another  route  from  Canada  to  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  which  came  to  be  used ;  that  by  the  Maumee  and 
Wabash  rivers.     It  was  first  mentioned  by  LaSalle,  in   16S3, 

*  An  interesting  paper  sustaining  this  view,  by  Albert  D.  Hager,  late  secretary 
of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  is  published  in  Vol.   I.  of  Andreas'  "  History- 
of  Chicago. " 


80  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

but  was  not  much  traveled  prior  to  1699.  In  this  year  a  colony 
of  Canadians  was  conducted  from  Quebec  to  Louisiana  by  this 
route.  These  were  followed  by  other  families,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  M.  du  Tessenet.  The  Maumee  River  was  originally 
known  to  the  French  as  the  Miami,  or  the  Oumiami.  It  was 
the  use  of  this  route  that  served  to  give  to  Vincennes  and  to 
Fort  Sackville,  there  situated,  the  military  and  strategic  im- 
portance which  they  afterward  enjoyed.  Communication  with 
Detroit  was  rendered  easy  by  its  adoption,  and  it  gradually 
came  to  occupy  a  prominent  position  in  the  estimation  of 
travelers.* 

*  Authorities:  "Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,"  by  B.  F.  French,  Vols. 
I.  to  VI.;  Margry's  "Voyages  des  Francais";  Histories  of  Louisiana,  by  Gayarre, 
DuPratz,  Stoddard,  and  Martin;  C.  W.  Butterfield's  "John  Nicolet";  Parkman's 
"LaSalle"  and  other  works;  "Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  "by  Justin 
Winsor,  Vol.  IV.,  and  papers  therein  by  Edmund  F.  Slafter,  Edward  D.  Neill, 
J.  G.  Shea,  and  the  Editor;  LaHontan's,  Hennepin's,  and  Joutel's  Voyages;  Smith's 
"History  of  Wisconsin";  Reports  and  Collections  of  the  Historical  Societies  of 
Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  Chicago;  Warburton's  "Conquest  of  Canada";  "Radis- 
son's  Voyages";  "Magazine  of  American  History";  " Magazine  of  Western  History"; 
Shea's  "Down  and  Up  the  Mississippi";  the  "Jesuit  Relations";  Bancroft's  "United 
States":  Andreas'  fc History  of  Chicago";  Beckwith's  "Vermilion  County." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Catholic  Missionaries — First  Permanent  Settlements. 

IT  has  been  a  question  whether  the  extension  of  French 
settlements  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  owing 
more  to  the  demands  of  trade  and  the  greed  for  gain,  or  to 
the  religious  zeal  of  the  Catholic  missionaries.  They  moved 
along  together — the  explorer  and  voyager  giving  protection  to 
the  missionary,  and  the  latter  in  return  aiding  them  to  concili- 
ate and  make  friends  with  the  natives.  The  administrations  of 
the  cross  went  hand  in  hand  with  those  of  the  government  and 
trade.  But  alas  for  the  peaceful  spread  of  religion,  those  who 
had  its  advancement  especially  in  charge  in  America,  as  in 
Europe,  were  divided  and  warring  among  themselves.  To  the 
Recollect  monks  of  St.  Francis  was  first  assigned  the  care  of 
the  American  missions,  but  subsequently  Cardinal  Richelieu 
superseded  this  order,  and  confided  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
people  and  natives  of  Canada  to  the  priests  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  the  disciples  of  Loyola.  The  former  felt  very  keenly 
their  exclusion  from  a  field  which  they  had  been  first  to  culti- 
vate, and  left  no  means  untried  to  regain  their  supremacy. 

They  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  Gov.  Frontenac  and  LaSalle, 
through  whose  influence  and  efforts  they  were  permitted  to 
return  to  Canada,  where  the  bitter  controversies  between  the  two 
orders,  and  between  the  Jesuits  and  the  civil  authorities,  were 
renewed  and  continued  with  aggravating  circumstances.  The 
last-named  order  not  only  claimed  the  right  to  regulate  the 
sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  but  also,  as  was  directly 
charged  by  Gov.  Frontenac,  intermeddled  with  private  rela- 
tions, "setting  husbands  against  wives,  and  parents  against 
children."  It  also  resolutely  antagonized  the  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  regard  to  the  domestication  and  civilization  of  the 
Indians.* 

The  acrimonious  quarrels  between  these  two  rival  religious 
orders,  intensified  as  they  were  by  the  participation  therein  of 

*  Winsor's  "America,"  Vol.  IV. 

6  8l 


82  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

the  civil   authorities,   continued    until    the  suppression    of  the 
Jesuits  in  the  dominions  of  France,  in  1764. 

The  data  for  the  early  history  of  Illinois  is  mainly  derived 
from  letters,  memoirs,  and  narratives  prepared  by  the  priests  of 
one  or  the  other  of  these  orders.  But  few  of  the  earliest  traders 
or  explorers,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  were  capable  of 
writing  any  intelligent  account  of  their  discoveries.  The  rever- 
end fathers,  however,  were  facile  with  the  pen,  and  used  it,  it 
must  be  confessed,  two  hundred  years  ago  very  much  as  do 
the  partisan  writers  of  today.  The  adherents  of  either  side 
strove  to  make  the  best  possible  showing  for  their  own  faction, 
and  threw  discredit  and  contempt  upon  the  labors  of  the  other. 

Of  the  missionaries  connected  with  the  Illinois,  Fathers  Mar- 
quette, Allouez,  Gravier,  Rasle,  Pinet,  Limoges,  Marest,  and 
Binneteau  were  Jesuits;  Fathers  Bergier  and  Montigny  were 
secular  priests;  and  Fathers  Membre,  Douay,  LeClercq,  Henne- 
pin, and  Ribourde  belonged  to  the  Recollects. 

Father  Marquette,  already  mentioned,  was,  it  is  said,  a  native 
of  Laon,  France,  where  he  was  born  in  1637.  Having  been  par- 
tially restored  to  health  after  his  return  from  his  trip  down  the 
Mississippi,  he  had  been  appointed  to  the  mission  of  the  Illinois, 
and  on  October  25,  1674,  set  out  for  that  country.  Being 
again  seized  with  his  malady  in  November,  upon  arriving  at  the 
portage  of  the  Illinois  River  in  December  and  being  unable  to 
proceed  farther,  he  spent  the  winter  there.  Having  sufficiently 
recovered,  on  March  29  he  proceeded  on  his  journey,  reaching 
the  Kaskaskia  village  April  8. 

His  constitution,  however,  had  been  thoroughly  undermined. 
It  was  only  with  great  pain  and  difficulty  that  he  could  attempt 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office,  and  he  remained 
there  but  a  short  time.  Realizing  that  the  end  was  approach- 
ing, he  was  anxious  to  close  his  days  at  his  old  mission  of 
St.  Ignace,  surrounded  by  his  brethren  of  the  order  of  which 
he  had  been  so  distinguished  a  member.  He  set  out,  accord- 
ingly, on  his  return  by  way  of  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, where,  at  the  mouth  of  a  small  river  afterward  bearing  his 
name,  he  died,  May  18,  1675. 

The  memory  of  this  excellent  father  has  long  been  held  in 
veneration.     If  his  character  was  not  free  from  the  imperfec- 


CATHOLIC   MISSIONARIES.  83 

tions  incident  to  his  times,  he  was  gentle,  zealous,  courageous, 
and  devoted.  It  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  for  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  he  who  was  merely  the  chaplain  of  the  expedition 
received  credit  equal  with,  if  not  superior  to,  that  accorded 
Joliet  as  the  discoverer  of  the  Mississippi  River,  while  he  who 
was  its  commander  was  left  to  occupy  a  subordinate  place. 

Father  Claude  Jean  Allouez,  who  has  been  justly  termed 
the  great  apostle  of  the  West,  was  the  most  distinguished  of 
the  early  missionaries.  Arriving  at  Quebec  from  France  in 
1658,  he  spent  the  years  from  1665  to  1675  in  establishing 
missions  at  Chegoimegon,  on  Lake  Superior;  that  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier — he  being  the  first  Jesuit  to  visit  this  point;  and,  in 
connection  with  Fathers  Dablon  and  Marquette,  that  of  St. 
Ignace,  on  the  Straits  of  Mackinac.  During  this  period  he 
made  extensive  explorations  of  the  country  around  and  adja- 
cent to  lakes  Superior  and  Michigan.  While  in  counsel  with 
the  Indians  at  Green  Bay,  he  was  informed  of  the  existence 
and  direction  of  the  upper  Mississippi,  which  information  he 
was  among  the  first  to  communicate  to  the  authorities  at 
Montreal;  and  upon  which,  confirmatory  as  it  was  of  reports 
from  other  directions  and  sources  previously  received,  it  was 
resolved  by  Talon  to  commission  the  expedition  of  Joliet  to 
explore  that  river. 

At  the  great  congress  of  St.  Lusson,  at  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie, 
Father  Allouez  was  put  forth  as  the  orator  of  the  occasion; 
and  in  his  speech  pronounced  a  glowing  panegyric  on  the 
king,  calling  him  "the  chief  of  chiefs,"  and  eulogized  his  native 
France;  contrasting  very  sharply  the  advantages  in  favor  of 
an  alliance  between  the  Indians  and  that  government  over  one 
with  Great  Britain. 

Upon  the  demise  of  Father  Marquette,  he  was  appointed  to 
complete  the  establishment  of  the  mission  of  the  "  Immaculate 
Conception,"  at  the  Kaskaskia  village  of  the  Illinois.  He 
arrived  there  April  27,  1677,  and  erected  a  cross  twenty-five 
feet  high,  and  preached  to  eight  tribes  there  congregated. 
He  remained  here,  with  some  brief  absences,  until  the  ap- 
proach of  LaSalle,  when  he  retired  on  account  of  the  supposed 
unfriendliness  of  that  leader  to  his  order.  He  returned  in 
1684,  and  remained  until   1687,  when  he  departed  for  Wiscon- 


84  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

sin.*  He  died  at  Fort  St.  Joseph  in  1690.  He  was  the  ablest 
of  all  the  Jesuit  missionaries  sent  to  the  Illinois,  and  against 
him  no  charge  of  unfairness,  jealousy,  mistrust,  or  abuse  of 
others  has  ever  been  justly  preferred. 

Father  Jacques  Gravier  succeeded  to  this  mission  in  1688, 
and  remained  until  1692,  when  he  was  followed  by  Father 
Sebastian  Rasle,  who  continued  in  charge  two  years.  The 
latter  was  a  learned  and  most  devoted  missionary,  who  left 
behind  him  an  interesting  account  of  the  Illinois  Indians  and 
his  labors  with  them.  He  was  subsequently  transferred  to  his 
former  mission  in  Maine,  where  he  was  killed,  bravely  stand- 
ing by  his  Indian  converts  in  an  attack  upon  them  by  the 
British. 

Father  Gravier  returned  in  1694,  and  continued  there  during 
the  years  1694-5,  laboring  also  among  the  Peorias  until  1699, 
when  he  was  recalled  to  Mackinac.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Fathers  Binneteau  and  Pinet.  In  1700-1,  he  made  a  voyage 
down  the  Mississippi  to  Biloxi,  an  interesting  account  of  which 
has  been  published.-f*  It  was  while  on  this  trip  that,  arriving 
at  the  Illinois  mission,  September  8,  1700,  then  in  charge  of 
Father  Marest,  he  found  that  the  Kaskaskias,  separating  from 
the  Peorias,  had  determined  on  their  removal  south;  a  portion 
of  them,  as  has  been  previously  stated,  having  already  de- 
parted. 

Father  Gravier  was  much  concerned  at  this  grave  step,  and 
would  have  prevented  it  had  he  arrived  in  time.  He  marched 
with  them  four  days,  and  then  went  ahead  with  Father  Marest, 
whom  he  left  sick  at  the  village  of  Tamaroa.  The  Kaskaskias 
undoubtedly  joined  those  of  their  tribe  who  had  already  pre- 
ceded them  on  the  peninsula  bounded  by  the  Kaskaskia  and 
Mississippi  rivers. 

After  remaining  at  Biloxi  a  year,  Father  Gravier  returned  to 
the  Peorias,  among  whom  he  resumed  his  labors.  Here,  in  an 
assault  upon  him  incited  by  the  medicine  men  of  the  tribe,  he 
received  a  severe  wound  which  finally  resulted  in  his  death,  at 
Mobile,  in  \Jo6.\     He  was  an  earnest  and  faithful  missionary, 

*  Shea's  "Catholic  Missions." 

t  "Down  and  Up  the  Mississippi,"  Shea. 

X  French's  "Louisiana,"  VI.,  420. 


FIRST   PERMANENT   SETTLEMENTS.  85 

who  had  great  influence  with  the  Illinois  Indians,  as  also  with 
the  other  missionaries.  But  the  credit  given  him  by  Father 
Marest,  as  having  been  the  founder  of  the  mission  of  the  Illi- 
nois, can  not  now,  with  justice  to  the  labors  of  others,  be  con- 
ceded. It  was  certainly  initiated  by  Father  Marquette,  and 
more  completely  established  by  Father  Allouez,  who  labored 
with  the  Illinois  most  of  the  time  for  ten  years  before  Father 
Gravier's  appearance  among  them. 

The  Peoria  station,  after  the  final  enforced  departure  of 
Father  Gravier,  was  left  vacant  as  a  punishment  for  their  cruel 
treatment  of  that  good  father.  But  being  cut  off  from  French 
trade  in  consequence,  they  became  clamorous  for  the  presence 
of  another  missionary,  and  promising  better  behavior,  Father 
Deville  was  at  length  sent  to  them,  but  how  long  he  or  his 
successors  remained  does  not  appear. 

The  credit  of  establishing  the  mission  of  Cahokia,  at  first 
called  Tamaroa — after  the  Indian  tribe  of  that  name,  belongs 
to  Rev.  Jacques  Pinet;  but  at  what  date  has  been  a  matter  of 
dispute.  Up  to  the  time  of  St.  Cosme's  visit  to  the  Tamaroas, 
in  1699,  it  appears  that  no  "black  gown"  had  been  seen  there, 
except  Father  Gravier  for  a  few  days.  The  following  year, 
however,  when  LeSueur  had  reached  this  village,  where  he  re- 
mained seventeen  days,  he  found  there  three  French  missiona- 
ries: Rev.  J.  Bergier  and  Fathers  Pinet  and  Joseph  de  Lamoges, 
and  also  a  number  of  Canadian  traders,  who  were  purchasing 
furs  and  skins.  In  October  of  the  same  year  (1700),  Father 
Gravier  mentions  the  fact  in  his  journal,  that  on  his  way  down 
the  Mississippi  he  stopped  at  the  village  of  the  Tamaroas,  and 
found  Father  Pinet  there,  "peaceably  discharging  the  functions 
of  a  missionary,"  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bergier,  also,  "who  had  care 
only  of  the  French."  Father  Bergier  remained  at  Cahokia 
until  his  death,  July  16,  17 10. 

The  Tamaroas  were  not  at  their  village  at  this  time,  but 
had  taken  up  their  winter- quarters  two  leagues  below,  on  a 
"beautiful  bay,"  while  the  Cahokias  were  located  four  leagues 
above.  But  the  village  itself,  called  Sainte  Famille  de  Cao- 
quias  and  the  mission  St.  Sulpice,  was  from  this  time  on  con- 
tinuously occupied,  and  is  undoubtedly  the  oldest  permanent 
settlement   in   Illinois.     Fathers   Frangois  Joliet  de  Montigny 


86  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  probably  A.  Damon  had  charge  of  this  mission  for  awhile, 
as  also  did  Dominic  Mary  Varlet,  who  succeeded  Bergier  in 
1712.  He  remained  there,  zealous  and  devoted  to  his  calling, 
for  six  years.  Having  returned  to  Europe,  he  professed  Jan- 
senism, and  became  an  heretical  bishop.  Revs.  Dominic  An- 
thony Thaumer  de  la  Source  and  Francois  le  Mercier  suc- 
ceeded him. 

Father  Gabriel  Marest,  when  he  had  recovered  his  health, 
proceeded  to  join  the  Kaskaskias  at  their  new  location.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  faithful  as  well  as  intelligent  of  the 
French  missionaries  in  Illinois.  He  was  longer  in  service  with 
that  tribe  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  having  remained  at 
Kaskaskia  until  his  death,  September  17,  1715.* 

Father  Jean  Mermet,  it  is  claimed  by  local  historians,  was 
the  first  missionary  sent  to  Vincennes,  but  was  later  an 
assistant  of  Marest  at  Kaskaskia.  He  was  called  by  Marest 
"the  soul  of  that  mission,"  in  1707.  He  also  died  at  Kaskas- 
kia, in  17 1 8.  When  the  parish  of  Kaskaskia  was  substituted 
for  the  mission,  in  July,  1720,  Father  Nicholas  Ignatius  de 
Beaubois  was  appointed  the  first  cure  and  administered  its 
affairs  for  some  years.-!* 

The  Rev.  Philip  Boucher  was  said  to  have  labored  at  Fort 
St.  Louis  for  some  time,  and  died  there  in  1719. 

In  1750,  Fathers  Guyenne,  Vivier,  Watrin,  and  Meurin  were 
in  charge  of  the  several  Illinois  missions.^ 

The  Recollects  confined  their  ministrations  generally  to  the 
tribes  whom  they  met  while  in  company  with  LaSalle  and 
other  explorers,  and  wherever  they  stopped  on  their  way,  and 
especially  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  Here  Fathers  Membre  and 
Ribourde  labored  in  1680,  and  Fathers  Douay  and  LeClercq 
in  1687-8. 

Father  Hennepin,  after  leaving  LaSalle  in  168c,  was  the  first 
to  explore  the  upper  Mississippi  as  far  as  St.  Anthony's  Falls. 
He  was  captured  by  the  Sioux,  and  rescued  by  Du  Lhut,  and 
soon  after  returning  to  Quebec,  departed  for  France.  He  was 
one  of  the  leading  Recollect  missionaries,  and  left  behind  him 
many  interesting  works  relating  to  the  early  explorations  of 

*  Carayon's  List.  t  Old  parish  records. 

J  Shea's  "Church  in  Colonial  Days,"  585. 


CATHOLIC   MISSIONARIES.  8j 

this  country.  His  first  account  of  the  exploration  of  the 
upper  Mississippi  was  admitted  to  be  truthful  and  satisfactory. 
His  good  faith  and  veracity,  however,  in  regard  to  later  publi- 
cations have  been  often  the  subject  of  serious  question,  as  was 
the  case  with  many  of  these  early  chroniclers. 

The  feeling  of  hostility  to  the  Jesuits  in  Europe,  which  had 
been  growing  in  intensity,  first  found  authoritative  sanction  in 
1741,  when  Pope  Benedict  XIV,  in  a  papal  brief,  characterized 
them  as  "disobedient,  contumacious,  captious,  and  reprobate."' 
In  1764,  the  order  was  suppressed  in  France,  the  decree  being 
the  culmination  of  a  long  series  of  condemnatory  measures 
adopted  by  local  French  parlcments.  Before  this,  however,  in 
1763,  the  Superior  Council  of  Louisiana,  following  the  example 
of  the  provincial  legislative  bodies  of  France,  had  declared 
the  perpetuation  of  the  Society  in  that  province  to  be  a 
menace  to  the  royal  authority  and  fraught  with  danger  to  the 
peace  and  safety  of  society.  Having  settled  these  questions 
to  their  own  satisfaction,  the  council  decreed  the  confiscation 
of  the  personal  property  of  the  order  in  Louisiana — including 
plate  and  vestments,  the  razing  of  their  churches  to  the  ground, 
and  the  banishment  of  the  members  from  the  country.*!* 

Not  content  with  this,  the  council,  disregarding  the  fact  that 
the  country  of  the  Illinois  had  been  ceded  to  Great  Britain, 
and  that  the  exercise  therein  by  that  body  of  any  authority 
other  than  ecclesiastical  was  at  least  questionable,  assumed  to 
enforce  the  same  policy  throughout  the  latter  territory.  The 
vessels  and  vestments  of  the  Jesuit  chapels  were  ruthlessly 
seized  by  the  "king's  attorney,"  who  made  so-called  sales  of 
the  realty  of  the  order,  inserting  in  these  conveyances  a  cove- 
nant that  the  grantee  should  level  the  chapels  to  the  earlh. 

As  to  the  extent  of  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  vested  in 
the  superior  council,  there  may  or  may  not  be  a  question. 
How  far  it  possessed  a  legal  right  to  direct  the  disposition  of 
the  property,  real  or  personal,  of  the  Jesuit  order  in  Illinois, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  proprietorship  of  the  country  had 
been  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  is  a  question  as  grave  as  it  is 

*  "Encyclopedia  Britannica. " 

+  Winsor's  "America,"  Vol.   IV.,  289;    Shea's  "Catholic  Church  in  Colonial 
Days,"  587. 


88  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

interesting.  It  is,  however,  a  source  of  surprise  that,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  French  courts  still  exercised  de  facto 
jurisdiction  in  the  district,  the  parties  against  whom  the  order 
was  directed,  and  who  were  most  deeply  interested  in  having 
it  declared  to  be  an  excess  of  authority,  do  not  seem — so  far 
as  appears  from  any  evidence  extant — to  have  taken  any  steps 
to  have  its  legality  judicially  determined. 

The  decree  of  banishment  was  read  to  the  priests  by  the 
attorney,  and  they  were  one  and  all  incontinently  shipped  to 
New  Orleans,  from  whence  they  were  sent  to  France.  Only 
one,  Sebastian  Louis  Meurin,  was  allowed  to  return  to  Illinois, 
and  he  not  until  he  had  signed  a  paper  obligating  himself  to 
recognize  no  ecclesiastical  superior  other  than  the  superior  of 
the  Capuchins  at  New  Orleans,  and  to  carry  on  no  commu- 
nication with  either  Quebec  or  Rome.* 

The  inherent  injustice  of  the  decree,  the  bitter  animosity 
which  prompted  it,  and  the  ruthless  method  in  which  it  was 
executed  can  not  be  reconciled  with  any  known  principles  of 
common  fairness  and  honesty,  to  say  nothing  of  the  precepts 
of  Christian  charity.  Had  the  orders  been  literally  and  com- 
pletely carried  out,  both  whites  and  Indians  would  have  been 
left  without  any  place  for  the  public  worship  of  God;  the  un- 
offending people  would  have  been  deprived  alike  of  priests 
and  altars.  In  a  word,  the  profanation  would  have  been  as 
monstrous  as  it  was  unjustifiable.  Happily,  however,  the  par- 
ties deriving  titles  through  sales  made  under  the  decree  abso- 
lutely refused  to  demolish  the  chapels. 

The  arduous  services  of  the  greater  portion  of  these  early 
French  missionaries  in  a  new  country,  under  circumstances 
of  the  greatest  hardship,  deprived  as  they  were  of  the  com- 
forts of  civilization,  journeying  by  night  and  day  through 
trackless  swamps  and  forests,  camping  on  the  ground  and 
sheltered  only  by  trees,  and  depending  mostly  on  wild  fruits 
and  game  for  subsistence,  certainly  entitle  them  to  a  high 
place  on  the  roll  of  those  who  have  sought  to  benefit  man- 
kind. Their  zeal  knew  no  bounds,  their  energy  was  as  tireless 
as  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide;  their  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  their  respective  orders  knew  neither  limits  nor  modera- 

*  Shea's  "Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,"  587,  589. 


FIRST   PERMANENT   SETTLEMENTS.  89 

tion,  and  they  attested  sincerity  of  their  faith  by  the  willing 
sacrifice  of  their  lives,  either  at  the  hand  of  violence  or 
through  the  no  less  certain  agency  of  exposure  and  depriva- 
tion. While  neither  primarily  explorers  nor  colonists,  they 
preserved,  by  their  pen,  the  discoveries  and  achievements  of 
others.  They  made  known  the  existence  of  the  salt-springs 
in  New  York,  the  copper-mines  of  Lake  Superior,  and  con- 
tributed to  the  spread  of  geographical  knowledge  the  world 
over.  It  was  through  their  efforts  that  the  first  wheat  was 
sown  in  Illinois  and  the  first  sugar-cane  introduced  into  Lou- 
isiana.* 

Not  the  least  valuable  of  their  labors  was  the  reduction  of 
the  language  and  even  dialects  of  Indian  tribes  to  grammatical 
rules,  the  preservation  of  the  traditional  history  of  the  aborig- 
ines and  their  national  customs,  and  the  instruction  of  these 
rude  savages  in  the  rudiments  of  music.  Of  such  records, 
fifty-one  volumes  by  the  Jesuits  alone  were  published  in  Paris. 

The  estimate  of  the  measure  of  success  which  attended  the 
religious  labors  of  these  missionaries  must  necessarily  vary 
according  to  the  various  conceptions  of  their  aims  and  the 
different  stand-points  from  which  they  are  viewed.  It  can 
hardly  be  questioned  that  at  each  mission  some  adults  endeav- 
ored to  lead  lives  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  explained  to  them  by  their  spiritual  guides.  The 
latter  believed  strongly  in  the  saving  efficacy  of  infant  baptism, 
and  considered  it  an  "admirable  providence,"  as  expressed  by 
Father  Marquette,  if  they  were  permitted  to  administer  the 
sacrament  to  a  dying  child  "for  the  salvation  of  its  innocent 
soul."  But  so  far  as  the  conversion  or  evangelization  of  the 
nomadic  tribes  is  concerned,  or  the  successful  inculcation  of 
those  Christian  precepts  which  exercise  restraining  influences 
upon  the  cruelties  of  predatory  warfare,  their  work  was  a 
lamentable  failure,  as  is  shown  by  the  testimony  of  the  fathers 
themselves.  Father  Gabriel  Marest,  whose  faithful  services  as 
a  missionary  of  fifteen  years  among  the  Illinois  Indians  qual- 
ify him  to  speak  intelligently  on  the  subject,  records  his 
experience  in  these  words:  "Our  life  is  passed  in  roaming 
through  thick  forests,  in  clambering  over  the  mountains,  in 

*  Shea. 


90  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

paddling  the  canoe  across  lakes  and  rivers,  to  catch  a  single 
poor  savage  who  flies  from  us,  and  whom  we  can  tame  neither 
by  teachings  nor  caresses."  In  another  place  he  says,  "nothing 
is  more  difficult  than  the  conversion  of  these  Indians.  It  is  a 
miracle  of  the  Lord's  mercy."  The  same  authority,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  mission  of  St.  Joseph  among  the  Miamis,  in  1712, 
says,  "religion  among  them  does  not  take  deep  root,  as  should 
be  desired,  and  there  are  but  few  souls  who  from  time  to  time 
give  themselves  truly  to  God." 

Father  Membre  says:*  "With  regard  to  conversions,  I  can 
not  rely  on  any.  There  is  in  these  savages  such  an  alienation 
from  the  faith,  so  brutal  and  narrow  a  mind,  such  corrupt  and 
anti-Christian  morals,  that  great  time  would  be  needed  to  hope 
for  any  fruit.  We  baptised  some  dying  children,  and  two  or 
three  dying  persons  who  manifested  proper  dispositions." 

Father  Louis  Vivier,  a  Jesuit,  in  1750,  thus  sums  up  the  results 
of  fifty  years  of  missionary  effort  among  the  Illinois:  "That  all 
the  Indian  families  had  been  baptized  there  but  five  or  six, 
but  that  the  fire-water  had  ruined  the  mission,  causing  the 
greater  portion  to  abandon  religion."  He  further  says,  "the 
greatest  good  they  [the  missionaries]  can  do  them  is  the 
administration  of  baptism  to  children  who  are  at  the  point 
of  death."  And  the  testimony  of  Father  P.  F.  Watrin,  him- 
self a  Jesuit  missionary,  in  1765,  is  still  more  conclusive.  In 
a  report  to  the  "Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,"  he  re- 
marks: "Since  the  year  1680,  religion  had  begun  to  be  dis- 
seminated among  the  Illinois.  The  Peorias  alone  have  been 
perseveringly  obstinate  in  rejecting  it.  Next  to  them  the 
Cahokias  were  the  most  difficult  to  be  won  over,  and  they  at 
length  abandoned  the  faith,  as  did  the  Mitchigamies.  The 
Kaskaskias  for  the  most  part  have  persevered  in  the  Christian 
religion,  despite  the  causes  of  seduction  that  perverted  the 
other  villages. "f 

While  it  is  doubtless  true  that  better  results  apparently  were 
obtained  in  other  localities,  it  is  also  true  that  the  converts 
among  the  Illinois  Indians  that  were  the  most  highly  com- 
mended, as  did  those  in  the  most  successful  missions,  soon  fell 

*  "Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,"  by  J.  G.  Shea,  153. 
+  "Magazine  of  Wesfern  History,"  I.,  269. 


CATHOLIC   MISSIONARIES.  9 1 

away  from  the  faith,  and  that  their  descendants  were  not  in  the 
slightest  degree  distinguished  for  morality  above  other  sav- 
ages who  had  never  yielded  to  the  gospel  call. 

The  failure  of  the  French  missionaries  to  Christianize  the 
aborigines  may  be  chiefly  assigned  to  two  operative  causes. 
The  first  of  these  relates  to  the  missionaries  themselves.  Their 
methods  were  fundamentally  erroneous.  Believing  that  relig- 
ion was  "the  chief  end  of  man,"  and  especially  that  its  benefits 
could  be  conferred  and  enjoyed  only  through  the  ministra- 
tions of  their  own  church,  by  which  they  aimed  to  control 
the  state  as  well  as  the  individual,  and  attain  a  power  which 
would  be  supreme  civilly  as  well  as  spiritually,  they  sought  to 
withdraw  the  savage  tribes  from  the  contaminations  or  inter- 
ference of  the  civil  authorities,  preferring  to  share  with  them 
the  hardships  of  their  lot  rather  than  to  open  their  eyes  to  the 
dangerous  means  of  its  amelioration.  The  state  sought  to 
gain  controlling  influence  by  localizing  and  civilizing  the  In- 
dians, by  teaching  them  agriculture  and  the  arts  of  peace; 
the  priests,  by  isolating  them  from  all  other  influences  outside 
of  themselves.  Man  is  first  an  animal,  then  a  social  being, 
then  a  subject  of  civil  government.  In  all  of  these  stages  of 
progress,  intelligence  and  growth  are  necessarily  implied.  To 
make  a  mere  savage  who  knows  no  home  and  recognizes  no 
authority,  a  religious  being,  is  an  impossibility.  He  may 
become,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  machine  to  be  worked  upon 
by  despotic  power,  but  is  rarely  able  to  comprehend  Chris- 
tianity. 

But  a  second  cause  of  failure  was  found  in  the  Indians  them- 
selves. The  difficulty  of  the  task  of  their  christianization, 
humanly  speaking,  was  insurmountable.  An  Indian,  says 
Father  Le  Clercq,  would  be  baptized  ten  times  a  day  for  a 
pint  of  brandy  or  a  pound  of  tobacco.  The  soil  in  which  the 
missionary  dropped  his  seed  was  fallow  and  sterile.  To  have 
expected  it  to  take  deep  root  would  have  been  to  look  for  the 
impossible.  The  Indians  could  grasp  the  idea  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  neither  intellectually  nor  spiritually.  The  natu- 
ral, if  not  inevitable,  result  followed.  Without  enlightenment, 
roaming  at  will  from  place  to  place,  although  in  some  instances 
it   was   claimed    that    the   ameliorating   influences   of  religion 


92  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

were  manifested,  the  wild  native  was  neither  humanized,  chris- 
tianized, nor  civilized,  through  the  efforts  of  the  French  mis- 
sionaries. 

But  even  had  all  other  conditions  been  favorable,  yet  an- 
other cause  might  be  mentioned  for  this  failure.  The  lust  for 
pelf  brought  to  the  Indian  villages  hosts  of  traders;  men  of 
dissolute  life,  who  knew  no  god  but  gain,  no  morality  but 
avarice,  and  who  found  in  the  deadly  "fire-water"  the  best 
medium  of  exchange.  In  vain  did  the  priests  seek  to  instruct 
ignorant  savages,  whose  brains  were  muddled  and  whose  con- 
sciences were  blunted  with  drink,  and  whose  native  moral  in- 
stincts had  been  perverted  through  familiarity  and  intercourse 
with  such  depraved  debauchees. 

Nor  were  the  Protestant  ministers  of  New  England,  although 
adopting  different  methods,  any  more  successful  in  their  efforts 
to  Christianize  the  Indians.  Neither  was  their  assumption 
of  ecclesiastical  superiority  any  less  pronounced  than  that 
of  the  followers  of  Loyola  or  St.  Francis.  And  while  the 
suppression  of  the  Jesuits  was  the  harbinger  of  the  civil  and 
religious  freedom  in  Europe  which  preceded  and  foreshadowed 
the  great  French  revolution,  it  was  not  until  the  people,  fight- 
ing for  freedom  of  thought,  of  speech,  and  of  the  press, 
through  their  colleges  and  schools,  threw  off  the  yoke  of 
clerical  domination,  that  New  England  became  the  cradle  and 
the  abiding-place  of  American  liberty. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  the  erection  of  the  cross  and  the 
presence  of  the  priest  at  an  Indian  village  formed  a  nucleus 
for  the  comparatively  permanent  abiding-place  of  traders  and 
voyagcurs.  While  they  generally  departed  with  the  tribe  on  the 
annual  hunt  in  the  fall,  and  returned  in  the  spring,  it  sometimes 
happened  that  the  priest,  on  account  of  ill-health  or  for  some 
other  reason,  would  remain  at  the  village  with  a  few  squaws 
and  old  men  and  children.  The  uncouth  chapel,  reminding 
the  itinerant  white  trader  of  a  better  state  of  society  in  the 
far-off  home  of  his  boyhood,  drew  his  wandering  steps  most 
frequently  to  the  place  where  the  priest  was  found.  Facilities 
for  trade  also  improved  there,  and  gradually  his  sojournings 
came  to  be  of  longer  duration,  until  not  infrequently  he  took 
;i  willing  dusky  maiden  to  wife.     The  building  of  a  house  and 


FIRST   PERMANENT   SETTLEMENTS.  93 

the  cultivation  of  a  small  piece  of  ground  naturally  followed; 
and  thus  was  given  to  these  primitive  settlements  the  elements 
of  growth  and  stability. 

Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  were  very  favorable  locations  for 
settlements  of  this  kind.  Situated  near  the  great  Father  of 
Waters,  whose  overflows  were  not  at  that  time  so  frequent  or 
well  known  as  they  afterward  became,  and  not  far  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri,  they  were  directly  on  the  great  high- 
ways of  the  trader  and  hunter.  The  climate  was  mild,  the 
soil  extremely  productive,  and  the  vast  forests  around  full  of 
game,  of  nut  and  fruit-bearing  trees,  and  of  vines. 

While  LaSalle  became  the  owner  by  purchase  of  the  entire 
Illinois  country,  no  permanent  settlement  grew  out  of  its  occu- 
pancy either  by  himself  or  his  immediate  followers.  Fort 
Crevecoeur,  erected  by  him,  was  never  occupied  after  its  aban- 
donment a  short  time  thereafter,  and  even  its  site  is  not  now 
known.  His  colony  established  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  St. 
Louis  and  Buffalo  Rock,  under  such  favorable  auspices,  con- 
tinued but  a  few  years  after  his  death,  and  after  the  military 
had  been  withdrawn  it  languished  and  entirely  disappeared. 
And  although  the  settlements  at  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia 
proved  to  be  permanent,  but  for  the  establishment  of  the  civil 
and  military  authority  at  Fort  Chartres  it  is  more  than  proba- 
ble that  they  too  would  have  been  abandoned  in  time  for 
presumably  more  desirable  locations.  Protection  of  the  law, 
backed  up  by  forts  and  men  with  guns  in  their  hands,  is  essen- 
tial to  the  safety  no  less  than  to  the  permanence  of  organized 
society.* 

*  Authorities:  "Catholic  Missions,"  by  Shea  and  Kip;  "Early  French  Voyages," 
by  St. Cosme,  Gravier,  and  others;  Charlevoix's  "New  France";  Warburton's 
"Canada";  Winsor's  "America";  French's  "Louisiana";  "Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nica";  "Magazine  of  American  History"  and  "Magazine  of  Western  History,"  and 
articles  in  the  latter,  and  manuscripts,  by  Oscar  W.  Collet,  secretary  of  the  Missouri 
Historical  Society;  Manuscripts  and  Records  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society; 
"Jesuit  Relations";   Shea's  "Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days." 


CHAPTER   V. 

A  District  of  Louisiana — Crozat's  Grant — The  East-Indies 
Company — Civil  Government  —  Indian  Forays — State 
of  Society,  1718-  1756. 

IN  the  preceding  chapters,  the  Illinois  country,  as  it  came 
to  be  called,  has  been  considered  from  the  direction  of 
Canada.  The  point  of  view  will  now  be  changed  to  that  of 
Louisiana,  of  which  province  it  became  a  part.  The  tragic 
death  of  LaSalle  and  the  consequent  failure  of  his  great 
scheme  to  connect  his  colony  on  the  Illinois  with  a  proposed 
post  about  sixty  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, was  a  blow  from  which  that  settlement  was  never  able 
to  recover.  Fort  St.  Louis  ceased  to  exist  as  a  French  post 
in  1702.  It  continued  to  be  occupied  by  a  few  irresponsible 
traders  and  merchants,  until  it  was  partially  destroyed,  as 
hereinbefore  stated,  soon  after  which  the  colony  dispersed. 

The  war  in  Europe,  in  which  Great  Britain  and  France  were 
engaged,  during  the  nine  years  following  1688,  had  so  ex- 
hausted each  in  respect  of  both  men  and  means  as  very  seri- 
ously to  impede  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  their  colonies 
in  North  America.  But  no  sooner  had  the  peace  of  Ryswick 
afforded  Louis  XIV  leisure  and  opportunity  to  turn  his  atten- 
tion toward  his  possessions  in  New  France,  than  that  monarch 
began  to  consider  how  best  to  utilize  the  important  discoveries 
of  LaSalle,  which  had  opened  up  to  French  colonization  and 
control  a  territory  no  less  magnificent  in  extent  than  it  was 
grand  in  possibilities. 

In  1698,  Pierre  LeMoyne,  Sieur  d'Iberville,*  an  eminent 
Canadian  officer  of  the  French  navy,  was  appointed  com- 
mander of  and  successfully  conducted  an  expedition  to  the 
Bay  of  Biloxi,  where  he  founded  a  settlement  and  constructed 
a  fort.  His  brother,  LeMoyne  de  Bienville,  as  the  "king's 
lieutenant,"  was  placed  in  charge  of  this  colony.     Upon  the 

*  Charles  LeMoyne  was  the  father  of  six  sons,  born  at  Montreal,  of  whom  Iber- 
ville was  the  third,  and  Bienville,  his  successor  as  governor  of  Louisiana,  the  sixth, 
and  second  son  with  that  title. 

94 


CROZAT  S   GRANT.  95 

renewal  of  hostilities  between  Great  Britain  and  France, 
however,  in  1701,  this  post  shared  the  fate  of  other  colonial 
settlements,  which,  through  neglect  and  want  for  some  years, 
were  forced  to  drag  out  a  precarious  existence.  In  1708,  to 
add  to  their  other  calamities  the  yellow  fever  broke  out  among 
the  inhabitants  at  Biloxi,  and  spared  in  its  fatal  ravages  only 
fourteen  officers,  seventy-six  soldiers,  and  thirteen  sailors.*  In 
this  year,  the  growing  dissatisfaction  over  the  administration 
of  the  affairs  of  this  colony  induced  the  French  court  to  estab- 
lish a  new  form  of  government  for  Louisiana.  The  province 
was  detached  from  Canada,  and  Nicholas  de  Muy  appointed 
its  first  governor,  who,  however,  died  on  his  passage  to  Biloxi. 

But,  in  1712,  the  condition  of  the  settlers  had  greatly  im- 
proved, and  glowing  accounts  of  the  opportunities  for  trade 
and  mining  in  the  new,  had  reached  the  parent,  country.  It 
was  represented  to  be  the  richest  part  of  the  world;  "pearls 
could  be  fished  there  in  abundance,  arid  the  streams  rolled  on 
sands  of  gold." 

Believing  that  the  resources  of  the  new  territory  could  be 
rendered  more  productive  to  the  royal  exchequer  through 
private  enterprise  than  under  the  direction  of  officers  of  the 
crown,  the  king,  on  September  14,  1712,  issued  royal  letters- 
patent  to  Antoine  Crozat,  Marquis  de  Chatel,  in  which  were 
granted  a  monopoly  of  the  commerce  of  the  country,  over 
which,  through  him,  the  "laws  and  customs  of  Paris"  were  to 
be  administered.  This  patent  was  a  lengthy  and  formidable 
document,  granting,  among  other  things,  the  right  to  "search 
for,  open,  and  dig  all  sorts  of  mines,  veins,  and  minerals 
throughout  said  country,  and  also  to  search  for  precious  stones 
and  pearls,  reserving  a  fifth  part  of  the  gold  and  silver  for 
the  king." 

A  question  has  been  raised  whether  or  not  the  Illinois  coun- 
try was  included  in  this  grant.  The  language  describing  the 
territory  over  which  it  was  to  be  exercised,  general  and  some- 
what indefinite,  was  as  follows:  "Solely  to  carry  on  a  trade  in 
all  the  lands  possessed  by  us,  and  bounded  by  New  Mexico 
and  by  the  lands  of  the  English  of  Carolina,  all  the  estab- 
lishments, ports,  havens,  rivers,  and  principally  the  port  and 

*  French's  "Louisiana." 


g6  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

haven  of  the  Isle  Dauphine,  heretofore  called  Massacre;  the 
river  of  St.  Louis,  heretofore  called  Mississippi,  from  the  edge 
of  the  sea  as  far  as  the  Illinois;  together  with  the  river  St. 
Philip,  heretofore  called  the  Missouris,  and  of  St.  Jerome,  here- 
tofore called  Ouabache,  with  all  the  countries,  territories,  lakes 
within  land,  and  the  rivers  which  fall  directly  or  indirectly 
into  that  part  of  the  river  of  St.  Louis." 

Another,  equally  indefinite,  reference  to  the  same  territory 
in  the  document  is  as  follows:  "And  further,  that  all  the  lands 
which  we  possess  from  the  Illinois  [or,  rather,  on  this  side  of 
the  Illinois  country]*  be  united,  so  far  as  occasion  requires,  to 
the  general  government  of  New  France. "*f  It  does  not  appear, 
indeed,  that  Crozat  attempted  to  exercise  any  particular  con- 
trol over  the  Illinois  country,  although  Gov.  Cadilac  sent 
traders  there  in  1713.J  In  the  subsequent  grant  to  the  West- 
ern Company,  the  territory  conveyed  was  "  the  lands,  coasts, 
ports,  havens,  and  islands  which  form  our  province  of  Louisi- 
ana, as  well  and  with  the  same  extent,  as  we  had  granted  to 
Mr.  Crozat."  Under  which  later  grant  and  under  the  decree 
hereinafter  mentioned,  jurisdiction  and  control  was  exercised 
by  the  company  for  the  first  time  in  all  the  Illinois  country. 
Antoine  Laumet  de  la  Mothe  Cadilac  was  appointed  governor, 
and  given  a  share  in  the  grantee's  profits. 

Mons.  Crozat  was  a  counsellor  and  secretary  of  the  king's 
household,  and  this  grant  was  intended  to  confer  a  special 
boon  on  his  majesty's  favorite,  to  which  Louis  remarks  he 
was  the  more  readily  inclined  because  of  the  zeal  manifested 
and  the  singular  knowledge  acquired  by  the  secretary  in 
former  enterprises  which  had  resulted  in  procuring  to  "our 
kingdom  great  quantities  of  gold  and  silver."  It  is  clearly 
apparent  that  the  object  primarily  in  view  in  granting  these 
privileges  was  to  augment  his  majesty's  revenues,  by  the 
royalties  to  be  derived  from  mining  gold  and  silver.  Other 
commercial  results  were  regarded  as  subsidiary  considerations. 
While  in  its  terms  the  grant  was  limited  on  the  south  by  New 
Mexico,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  mines  of  old  Mexico 
were  also  kept  in  view.     However  this  may  have  been,  Crozat 

*  "Boundaries  of  Ontario, "by  David  Mills. 

t  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  35.  X  French's  "Louisiana,"  VI,  114. 


THE   EAST-INDIES   COMPANY.  97 

signally  failed  to  realize  the  magnificent  expectations  of  his 
imperial  patron,  in  the  direction  of  either  money  or  commerce. 
In  1717,  after  the  death  of  Louis  XIV,  he  surrendered  his 
grant  to  the  crown. 

In  the  meantime,  shrewd  operators  had  not  been  slow  to 
discover  not  only  the  vast  resources  and  natural  advantages 
of  the  country,  but  also  its  contingent  value  as  a  centre  of 
commerce.  Soon  after  the  retirement  of  Crozat,  therefore,  in 
August  of  the  same  year,  an  organization  was  formed,  called 
the  "Company  of  the  West,"  to  which  were  conveyed  powers 
even  more  extraordinary  than  those  conferred  on  Crozat.  At 
the  head  of  this  company  was  the  celebrated  John  Law.  To 
him  and  his  associates  were  granted  the  control  of  the  trade 
and  commerce  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  named.  Gov- 
ernmental powers,  also,  were  conferred  upon  them.  They  were 
given  a  monopoly  of  the  tobacco  and  slave  trades,  and  the 
exclusive  right  to  refine  gold  and  silver.  Subsequently,  the 
sole  privilege  of  trading  with  the  East  Indies,  China,  and  the 
"South  Sea"  was  also  conceded,  and  the  name  of  the  com- 
pany changed  to  that  of  the  East  Indies. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  in  this  connection  that  in  all  the 
royal  grants  of  these  early  days,  especial  reference  is  made  to 
the  supposed  presence  of  gold  and  silver,  as  well  as  precious 
stones.  The  question  arises,  how  did  the  idea  that  gold  and 
silver  were  to  be  found  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  obtain  so 
deep  a  lodgment  in  the  early  European  brain  ?  It  seems 
most  probable  that  the  belief  originated  either  from  the 
sensational  stories  told  by  Spanish  adventurers  in  Mexico 
and  South  America,  or  from  statements  made  to  the  early 
discoverers  by  the  Indians.  The  argument  from  analogy 
was  easily  made.  From  what  source  the  Indians  learned 
of  the  presence  of  the  coveted  metals,  it  is  difficult  to  say; 
probably  from  tradition,  possibly  from  actual  discovery.  It 
is,  nevertheless,  an  interesting  subject  for  conjecture  whether 
the  early  French  explorers,  restlessly  seeking  for  the  precious 
yellow  dust,  might  not  have  found  it  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  centuries  ago,  had  they  been  successful  in  reaching 
what  was  undoubtedly  their  objective  point. 

On  September  27,  1717,  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  which 
7 


98  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

had  up  to  that  time  been  a  dependency  of  Canada,  by  a  decree 
of  the  royal  council,  was  united  to  and  incorporated  with  the 
government  of  Louisiana.* 

Under  the  enterprising  efforts  of  Law's  company,  the  colo- 
nies of  Louisiana  and  the  Illinois  country  rapidly  increased, 
as  many  as  eight  hundred  immigrants  arriving  in  one  year. 
In  1717,  succeeding  Cadilac,  the  new-appointed  Gov.  1'  Epinay 
arrived.  Following  him  the  Sieur  Jean  Baptiste  LeMoyne  de 
Bienville,  who  had  in  previous  years  served  in  the  capacity 
of  commandant,  and  as  lieutenant-governor  under  Cadilac,  was 
appointed  governor  of  Louisiana,  and,  in  1718,  selected  the  site 
of  New  Orleans  for  the  founding  of  a  metropolis.  Pierre  Duque 
de  Boisbriant  was  named  by  the  directors  of  the  company  as 
the  first  commandant  of  Illinois,  and,  under  their  instructions, 
proceeded  to  Kaskaskia  with  a  small  force  to  erect  a  fort. 
Why  he  selected  as  the  site  of  this  fortification,  an  isolated 
spot  on  the  Mississippi  Bottom,  liable  to  overflow,  and  many 
miles  distant  from  either  of  the  villages  then  existing,  it  is 
difficult  to  comprehend.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  it  was 
in  the  interest  of  the  new  settlements  then  projected  in  that 
vicinity.  A  poorer  location,  as  the  event  proved,  could  not 
have  been  chosen.  But  the  fort  was  constructed,  and  named 
Fort  Chartres  after  the  Due  de  Chartres,  son  of  the  regent 
of  France,  and  it  was  made  the  seat  of  government  for 
the  Illinois  country  while  the  French  held  it.  Large  ware- 
houses for  the  reception  of  goods  and  also  factories  were 
erected,  and  around  the  fort  there  soon  sprang  up  a  thriving 
village  called  New  Chartres,  which  soon  became  the  centre  of 
"fashion,"  as  well  as  of  power. 

In  1720,  the  Spaniards  at  Santa  Fe,  alarmed  at  the  encroach- 
ments upon  their  territory  by  the  French,  under  Bernard  de  la 
Harpe,  who  had  erected  forts  along  the  Red  River  and  at 
other  points,  organized  an  expedition  against  the  Missouri 
Indians,  allies  of  the  French.  While  the  primary  object  of 
the  movement  was  the  extermination  of  the  Missouris  and  the 
conquest  of  their  country,  the  objective  point  was  undoubtedly 
the  Illinois.  The  invading  force  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  from  seventy  to  fifteen  hundred.     The  design  was  to  form 

*  Margry,  V,  589. 


CIVIL   GOVERNMENT.  99 

an  alliance  with  the  Osages,  neighbors  and  deadly  enemies  of 
the  tribe  to  be  attacked.  Losing  their  way,  the  Spaniards 
arrived  at  a  Missouri  village,  supposing  it  to  belong  to  their 
proposed  allies,  and  made  known  to  the  chief  their  plans  for 
destroying  his  nation.  The  cunning  warrior,  leaving  them 
undeceived,  promised  ready  cooperation.  Falling  upon  their 
unsuspecting  guests  in  the  night,  the  savages  massacred  the 
entire  party,  with  the  exception  of  the  chaplain,  who  after- 
ward escaped.  The  affair  was  reported  to  Boisbriant  by  the 
Missouris,  and  has  been  considered  as  of  importance  as  tend- 
ing to  show  the  designs  of  the  Spaniards  against  the  French 
in  those  early  days.* 

In  1 72 1,  Philip  F.  Renault  brought  with  him  to  the  country 
five  hundred  slaves  and  two  hundred  artisans,  mechanics,  and 
laborers,  and  having,  on  June  14,  1723,  received  a  large  grant 
of  land,  he  shortly  afterward  founded  the  village  of  St.  Philip, 
a  few  miles  north  of  the  fort.  He  held  the  office  of  director- 
general  of  the  mines  of  Louisiana.  In  1733,  Prairie  du  Rocher, 
four  miles  east  of  Fort  Chartres  under  the  bluff,  was  laid  out 
on  land  which  the  commandant  had  caused  to  be  conveyed  to 
himself,  and  which  was  by  him  in  turn  granted  to  his  nephew, 
St.  Therese  Langlois,  who  conveyed  it  in  lots  to  settlers,  re- 
serving his  seignorial  rights.  Subsequently,  a  grant  of  land 
was  made  to  the  village  for  commons,  from  which  it  yet 
derives  a  revenue. 

Similar  grants  of  commons  were  made  to  other  French  vil- 
lages for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants.  The  impetus  derived 
from  the  energy  of  the  Indies  Company  was  communicated 
to  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia,  which  increased  in  size  and  num- 
bers. In  1722,  a  parish  church  and  stone  residence  for  the 
Jesuits  were  erected  at  the  latter  place,  and  new  mills  and  store- 
houses at  each  of  these  villages.  Agriculture  was  encouraged, 
and  grants  of  land  were  made  to  permanent  settlers.  These 
grants,  although  inchoate  in  their  character,  were  permitted  to 
become  allodial  titles  without  farther  concessions.  The  first  of 
these  conveyances  of  record,  bearing  date  May  10,  1722,  was  to 
Charles    Danie.*f*     Another   in   this    locality,   covering   several 

*  "Voyages  aux  Indes  Occidentales,"  Bossu,  Part  I,  132. 

t  It  reads  as  follows :     "  Pierre  Duque  Boisbriant,  knight  of  the  Military  Order 


IOO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

leagues  in  extent,  and  one  also  near  Peoria,  were  made  to 
Renault  for  the  labor  of  his  slaves.  He  left  the  country  in 
1743,  but  some  of  this  land  is  yet  designated  on  the  map  of 
Monroe  County  as  belonging  to  his  heirs;  while  the  title  to 
other  portions  is  now  being  litigated  in  the  courts. 

These  grants  on  the  American  Bottom  commenced  at  the 
Mississippi  River  and  extended  to  the  Kaskaskia  or  to  the 
bluffs,  with  no  intervening  or  unsold  tracts.  They  were  so 
many  arpents — 11  and  67/ioo  rods — in  width  and  length,  the 
lines  of  which  ran  the  same  course.  Some  of  them,  as  at 
Cahokia,  were  only  two  arpents  wide  and  extended  five  miles 
to  the  bluffs."  Thus  large  fields  were  within  a  common  en- 
closure, each  owner  contributing  his  share  toward  keeping  up 
the  fence.  In  this  way  nearly  all  of  the  land  in  the  American 
Bottom,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  settlements,  was  conveyed. 

In  September,  1721,  such  progress  had  been  made  in  the 
settlement  of  the  new  country  and  in  building  up  separate 
communities,  that  it  was  deemed  advisable  by  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  council  for  the  government  of  the  Indies  Com- 
pany to  divide  the  province  of  Louisiana  into  nine  civil  and 
military  districts.  And  it  was  provided  that  over  each  of  these 
should  be  appointed  a  commandant  and  a  judge,  from  whose 
decisions  appeals  might  be  taken  to  the  superior  council  at 
New  Orleans.-f* 

Of  these  districts,  Illinois,  the  largest  and  next  to  New 
Orleans  the  most  populous,  was  the  seventh.  It  embraced 
over   one-half  of  the   territory  of  the   present   State   and   all 

of  St.  Louis  and  first  King's  lieutenant  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  commanding 
at  the  Illinois,  and  Marc  Antoine  de  la  Loire  des  Ursins,  principal  secretary  for 
the  Royal  Indies  Company; — 

On  the  demand  of  Charles  Danie,  to  grant  him  a  piece  of  land  five  arpents  in 
front,  on  the  side  of  the  Mitchiagamia  River,  running  north  and  south,  joining  to 
Michel  Philip  on  one  side  and  on  the  other  to  Meieque,  and  in  depth  east  and 
west  to  the  Mississippi.  In  consequence  they  do  grant  to  the  said  Charles  Danie 
(in  soc  age)  the  said  land;  whereon  he  may  from  this  date  commence  working, 
clearing,  and  sowing  in  expectation  of  a  formal  concession,  which  shall  be  sent  from 
France  by  Messieurs  the  Directors  of  the  Royal  Indies  Company.  And  the  said 
land  shall  revert  to  the  domain  of  the  said  company  if  the  said  Charles  Danie  do 
not  work  thereon  within  a  year  and  a  day.  Boiseriant. 

Des  Ursins." 

*  See  "American  State  Papers,"  Vol.  II. 

t  Dillon,  43. 


CIVIL   GOVERNMENT.  IOI 

that  country  between  the  Arkansas  and  the  forty-third  parallel 
of  North  latitude,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. It  included  the  present  states  of  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Iowa,  Nebraska,  and  parts  of  Arkansas  and  Colorado.*  In 
1723,  the  Wabash  region  was  cut  off  from  the  Illinois,  and 
made  a  district  by  itself.  The  commandant,  with  his  Secre- 
tary des  Ursins,  and  Michael  Chassin,  the  company's  commis- 
sary, formed  the  council  of  the  district,  and  administered  its 
affairs  according  to  the  civil  law. 

Other  events  affecting  the  Illinois  territory  at  this  early  day, 
in  their  order,  were  as  follows:  In  1722,  upon  request  of  the 
Peoria  Indians  living  on  the  Illinois  River,  who  represented 
that  they  were  being  hard  pressed  by  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  a 
force  was  sent  from  Fort  Chartres  to  their  relief;  but  before 
its  arrival  they  had  themselves  defeated  their  foes,  as  hereto- 
fore related.  In  1725,  Boisbriant  having  been  summoned  to 
New  Orleans  to  succeed  Gov.  de  Bienville,  who  had  been 
recalled  to  France,  he  was  followed  in  the  command  of  the 
Illinois  district,  at  least  temporarily,  by  Capt.  du  Tisne,  who 
was  in  turn  succeeded  by  Capt.  de  Liette-f-  of  the  royal  army.]: 

Communication  with  the  outer  world  was  now  mostly  carried 
on  by  way  of  New  Orleans.  The  old  route  from  Canada  by 
the  Chicago  portages  having  fallen  into  disuse,  the  French 
settlements  on  the  Mississippi  River  were  peculiarly  open  to 
forays  from  the  savages — especially  since  the  departure  of  the 
Peorias,  in  1722,  from  the  Illinois  River.  These  hostile  incur- 
sions were  of  frequent  occurrence  and  determined  the  French 
to  strike  the  Foxes  an  effective  blow.  An  expedition  was 
accordingly  directed  against  them  by  the  Marquis  de  Beau- 
harnais — grandfather  of  the  first  husband  of  the  Empress  Jose- 
phine— governor  of  Canada,  in  which  the  French  and  the 
Illinois  Indians,  commanded  by  Liette,  took  a  prominent 
part.§  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  were  met  and  defeated  near 
Green  Bay,  Other  collisions  occurred  between  the  belligerents 
in  which  the  combined  French  and  Indians  were  victorious 
under  the  brave  St.  Ange,  upon  whom  the  duties  of  comman- 

*  "Magazine  of  Western  History." 

t  Judge  Breese  spells  this  name  de  Lielte,  and  others  de  Siette,  and  Charlevoix 
Delietto.  J  Oscar  W.  Collet.  §  E.  G.  Mason. 


102  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

dant,  after  Liette,  had  devolved.  He  was  the  father  of  Louis 
St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  and  died  about  1742.* 

In  1734,  Gov.  Bienville,  who  had  been  recalled  in  1725  and 
was  then  succeeded  by  Gov.  Perier,  was  reappointed  and  con- 
tinued to  act  as  governor  of  Louisiana  until  1743,  when  he  was 
again  recalled  and  succeeded  by  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil. 

In  1732,  the  charter  of  the  Indies  Company  was  surrendered, 
and  Louisiana,  including  the  district  of  the  Illinois,  was  gov- 
erned by  officers  appointed  directly  by  the  French  crown  under 
a  code  of  laws  known  as  the  "Common  Law  of  Paris."  These 
laws,  however,  not  being  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  civil  or 
social  relations  in  a  new  country,  were  not  generally  enforced ; 
the  commandant  exercising  an  arbitrary  but  mild  authority, 
which  was  acquiesced  in  without  complaint.-f"  The  majority  of 
colonists  who  had  come  to  this  country,  influenced  by  induce- 
ments held  out  by  the  Indies  Company,  being  indigent  and 
illiterate,  when  the  company  failed,  for  the  most  part  betook 
themselves  to  the  pursuits  of  hunting  and  boating.  A  few  men 
of  talent  and  enterprise  remained,  who  became  merchants  and 
traders  on  a  large  scale  with  the  Indians. 

In  1734,  Pierre  d'Artaguiette,  a  young  officer  who  had  greatly 
distinguished  himself  in  a  war  with  the  Natchez,  was  promoted 
to  the  majority  of  his  regiment  and  appointed,  by  the  governor 
of  Louisiana,  commandant  of  the  Illinois  district;  and  his 
administration  proved  popular  and  successful.  In  1736,  how- 
ever, he  conducted  a  disastrous  expedition  against  the  Chicka- 
saws,  who  had  long  opposed  the  advancement  of  the  French 
settlements  on  the  Mississippi.  His  force  was  composed  of  a 
part  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Chartres,  a  company  of  volunteers 
from  the  French  villages,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  warriors 
of  the  Kaskaskias,  making  an  army  of  two  hundred  French 
and  four  hundred  Indians.^  The  Illinois  and  Miami  Indians 
were  under  command  of  Chief  Chicagou.  At  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,  the  Chevalier  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  Sieur  de  Vin- 
cennes§  joined  the  expedition  with  his  quota  from  the  Wabash. 

*  O.  W.  Collet.  +  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  60. 

J  Holmes'  "Annals,"  II,  83. 

§  Vincennes  was  born  in  1668,  and  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Louis  Joliet.     Dillon 
and  others  say  that  his  name  was  Francis  Morgan  Vincennes.     Shea,  in  his  note 


INDIAN   FORAYS.  103 

Marching  out  from  Fort  Chartres  on  a  morning  in  February, 
his  command,  when  mustered  on  board  his  bateaux  and  canoes, 
presented  an  imposing  appearance  as  it  floated  down  the  Mis- 
sissippi. A  cooperating  force  from  New  Orleans  was  expected 
to  effect  a  junction  at  an  agreed  point  near  the  Chickasaw 
village.  Bienville  failed  to  carry  out  his  part  of  the  plan.  Dis- 
appointed at  this  unexpected  failure,  to  fight  was  the  only 
alternative  left  the  brave,  young  commander;  but  he  was 
severely  wounded  early  in  the  engagement,  as  were  many  other 
officers;  his  Indian  allies  fled,  and  the  Chickasaws  soon  re- 
mained masters  of  the  bloody  field.  Artaguiette,  Vincennes, 
Father  Senat,  Tisne,  and  young  Pierre  St.  Ange — brother  of 
Louis,'"  were  taken  prisoners  and  burned  at  the  stake. 

The  successor  of  the  lamented  Artaguiette  was  Alphonse  de 
la  Buissoniere,  who,  in  1736,  also  led  an  expedition  against  the 
warlike  Chickasaws.  The  opposing  forces  came  in  sight  of  each 
other,  but,  upon  a  careful  survey  of  the  situation,  concluded  to 
make  peace.  However,  this  was  soon  broken  by  the  implaca- 
ble redskins,  who  attacked* a  boat  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
going  to  the  Illinois,  and  killed  all  on  board  except  one  young 
girl,  who  had  recently  arrived  from  France  and  was  on  her  way 
to  join  her  sister  at  Fort  Chartres.  Reaching  the  shore,  she 
wandered  through  the  woods  for  days,  living  on  herbs  and 
roots;  but  finally  saw  the  flag  floating  from  Fort  Chartres,  and, 
struggling  on,  reached  the  haven  of  her  hopes. 

From  this  time  on,  for  a  period  of  over  twelve  years,  the 
French  settlements  in  the  Illinois  district  were  at  peace  with  all 
the  world,  and  prosperous.  The  war  between  Great  Britain  and 
France  during  the  four  years  preceding  the  treaty  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  in  1748,  involved  the  colonists  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
but  did  not  materially  affect  the  remote  and  comparatively 
isolated  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

During  this  period,  the  commandants  general,  as  they  were 
called  in  official  documents,  succeeded  each  other  in  the  follow- 
ing order:     In  1740,  Capt.  Benoist  de  St.  Claire  was  appointed 

to  Charlevoix,  IV,  122,  gives  the  name  as  in  the  text.  Collet  says  that  the  name 
Vincennes  was  one  that  he  assumed.  W.  A.  Brice,  in  his  "History  of  Ft.  Wayne," 
says  that  an  officer  by  the  name  of  M.  de  Vincennes  was  reported  to  have  died  at 
the  Miami  village  in  1719.  *  O.  W.  Collet. 


104  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

to  succeed  Buissoniere;  two  years  thereafter  came  the  Chevalier 
de  Bertel  or  Berthet,  who  held  the  position  until  1748-9,  when 
he  in  turn  yielded  the  command  to  St.  Claire,  who  was  rein- 
stated therein. 

The  early  history  of  the  French  settlements  in  southern  Illi- 
nois reads,  in  these  days  of  higher  civilization  and  broader 
culture,  like  a  romance  of  Arcadia.  The  wants  of  these  primi- 
tive denizens  of  a  new  territory  were  as  simple  as  they  were 
few.  Subsequent  historians  have  called  these  the  "halcyon 
days  of  Illinois,"  and  allude  to  this  period  as  the  date  at  which 
was  established  the  fact  that  "an  honest,  virtuous  people  need 
no  government."* 

The  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  five  French  villages  in  the 
district  had  been  uniform  and  substantial.  Extending  along 
the  American  Bottom  from  Kaskaskia  to  Cahokia,  frequent  and 
friendly  communication  was  maintained  among  their  inhabit- 
ants along  a  line  sixty  miles  in  length.  At  peace  with  each 
other,  they  established  and  cultivated  amicable  relations  with 
their  Indian  neighbors.  Religious  dissensions  were  unknown. 
The  settlers  recognized  but  one  church,  and  to  dispute  her  will 
in  matters  of  faith  never  entered  their  minds.  In  each  hamlet 
was  a  rude  chapel,  with  its  attendant  priest,  who  was,  not  only 
in  matters  of  religion  but  in  all  the  affairs  of  every-day  life,  the 
"guide,  philosopher,  and  friend"  of  his  illiterate  parishioners. 
The  architecture  of  their  houses  partook  of  the  simplicity  of 
those  who  dwelt  within  them — a  single  story,  surmounted  by  a 
thatch  of  prairie-grass,  rested  upon  four  posts,  whose  roughly- 
hewn  sides  were  concealed  by  horizontal  cross-ties,  and  whose 
interstices  were  filled  in  with  clay  and  straw,  in  lieu  of  mortar. 
The  main  entrance  was  protected  by  a  primitive  porch  or  shed. 
The  floors  were  made  of  puncheons.  The  substantial  furnish- 
ing of  these  plain  homes  was  designed  with  an  eye  to  utility 
rather  than  ornament;  articles  of  mere  luxury  were  unkown, 
and  she  was  a  proud  dame  who  could  adorn  her  dwelling  with 
a  silver  heirloom  brought  from  her  native  land,  to  which  she 
had  bid  a  long  farewell. 

The  demands  of  dress  were  not  at  all  exacting.      Coarse, 

*  See  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  and  Breese's  "Early  History  of 
Illinois. " 


STATE   OF   SOCIETY.  105 

blue  cotton  sufficed  for  summer  wear,  which  was  sometimes 
covered  by  a  capot  made  of  a  Mackinac  blanket.  In  winter, 
cotton  was  replaced  by  bear  skin.  Blue  handkerchiefs  formed 
the  head-gear  of  men  and  women  alike,  while  both  sexes 
were  content  to  cover  their  feet  with  loosely-fitting  deer-skin 
moccasins.  Their  agricultural  implements  were  of  the  most 
primitive  kind — wooden  plows  without  a  colter,  and  carts  with- 
out iron.  They  usually  plowed  with  oxen,  which  were  yoked 
by  the  horns  rather  than  by  the  neck.  The  horses  were  driven 
tandem,  with  harness  made  of  raw-hide,  which  was  strong  and 
neat.  With  such  implements  and  outfits  thousands  of  acres 
were  cultivated  on  the  American  Bottom,  yielding  large  and 
remunerative  crops. 

They  raised  chiefly  wheat,  oats,  hops,  and  tobacco — Indian 
corn  only  for  hogs  and  hominy;  against  its  use  for  bread 
they  were  prejudiced.  Their  bags  were  made  of  dried  elk- 
skins.  They  had  neither  spinning-wheels,  looms,  nor  churns 
— butter  being  made  by  shaking  the  cream  in  a  bottle,  or 
by  breaking  it  in  a  bowl  with  a  spoon,  and  very  little  used. 
Their  commerce  was  chiefly  with  New  Orleans,  the  people  of 
which  port  depended  mainly  on  Illinois  for  supplies  of  various 
kinds.  Regular  cargoes  of  flour — as  many  as  four  thousand 
sacks  in  1745* — bacon,  pork,  hides,  tallow,  leather,  lumber, 
wine,  lead,  and  peltries  were  annually,  and  sometimes  more 
frequently,  transported  in  keel-boats  and  barges,  or  batteaux  as 
they  were  called,  to  New  Orleans,  where  was  found  an  excel- 
lent market.  For  cargo  on  their  homeward  voyage,  the  little 
vessels  brought  to  the  Northern  settlements  sugar,  rice,  manu- 
factured tobacco,  indigo,  cotton,  and  such  other  goods  as  the 
simple  wants  of  the  inhabitants  required. 

The  Frenchmen  in  Illinois  were  excellent  boatmen,  and 
although  the  work  of  ascending  the  river  was  difficult  and  at 
some  places  perilous,  they  so  mingled  their  amusements  with 
the  excitements  of  the  voyage  as  to  make  this  kind  of  life  not 
only  tolerable  but  enjoyable.  The  manner  of  navigating  the 
Mississippi,  as  conducted  then  and  for  over  half  a  century  there- 
after, was  by  towing,  sailing,  and,  as  it  was  called,  cordelling, 
which  consisted  in  pulling  the  boat  up  stream  by  a  long  rope, 

*  Reynolds. 


106  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

one  end  of  which  was  fastened  to  a  tree,  the  other  being  in  the 
hands  of  the  men  on  board.  When  creeks  or  rivers  impeded 
their  progress,  they  swam  them  or  were  ferried  over  in  canoes. 
The  crews  numbered,  according  to  the  size  of  the  vessel,  from 
ten  to  fifty  hands,  and  with  large  boats  heavily  laden,  four  or 
five  months'  time  was  consumed  in  making  the  round  trip  from 
Kaskaskia  to  New  Orleans.  Besides  coin,  good  peltries  were 
an  acknowledged  measure  of  value,  and  passed  freely  in  com- 
mercial transactions. 

The  government  of  the  commandant,  as  before  stated,  was 
mild  and  conservative,  interfering  but  little  with  the  every-day 
pursuits  of  the  people,  excepting  in  matters  of  commerce,  over 
which  he  maintained  absolute  control.  Having  extensive  pat- 
ronage and  unlimited  power  over  trade,  as  well  as  over  all  con- 
tracts for  supplies,  repairs,  and  stores  for  his  majesty's  maga- 
zines, ample  opportunities  were  afforded  him  not  only  to  secure 
the  good-will  of  the  inhabitants,  but  also  to  add  very  largely 
to  his  legitimate  income. 

"The  Court  of  the  Audience  of  the  royal  jurisdiction  of  the 
Illinois,"  as  Judge  Breese  calls  it,  which  came  to  be  established, 
had  but  little  difficulty  in  settling  the  few  matters  of  dispute 
which  arose,  or  in  enforcing  its  judgments  and  decrees,  through 
the  provost  marshal*  Each  village  had  its  own  local  com- 
mandant, who  was  usually  the  captain  of  the  militia."f" 

The  burdens  of  the  people  were  light;  and  there  being  but 
few  social  distinctions,  there  were  no  rivalries.  Care  was  a 
stranger,  and  amusements  always  in  order.  Paying  strict 
attention  to  the  public  duties  of  religion,  they  regarded  the 
close  of  the  mass  on  Sunday  as  the  signal  for  the  commence- 
ment of  festivities  on  this  gala  day  of  the  week.  Games,  visit- 
ing, and  gossip  were  the  order  of  the  day;  but  their  chief 
delight  was  in  dancing,  in  which  old  and  young  engaged  alike. J 

Ignorant  of  the  expensive  demands  of  fashion,  their  artifi- 
cial wants  were  few  and  easily  satisfied.  All  it  cost  for  a 
year's  board  and  lodging  was  two  months'  work — one  plowing 
and  one  harvesting.§     Thus  lived  in  their  border  villages  this 

*  See  interesting  address  before  Illinois  State  Bar  Association,  on  the  "  Beginning 
of  Law  in  Illinois, "by  Edward  G.  Mason,  1887. 

t  Breese,  217.  J  Monette,  Stoddard.  §  Capt.  Pittman. 


STATE   OF   SOCIETY.  IO7 

primitive,  detached  people,  apparently  contented  with  their 
situation,  their  government,  and  religion. 

But  there  is  a  reverse  side  to  this  picture.  The  highest  prod- 
uct of  any  country — the  outgrowth  which  surpasses  in  value  all 
the  combined  harvests  of  the  soil  and  the  aggregate  yield  from 
its  mines,  however  great — consists  of  the  men  and  women  who 
not  only  acknowledge  that  soil  as  their  mother,  but  who  owe 
their  character  and  its  development  to  the  circumstances  and 
institutions  surrounding  their  birth  and  among  which  they  are 

reared. 

"Ill  fares  the  land,  to  gathering  ills  a  prey, 

Where  wealth  aecumulates  and  men  decay." 

In  vain  do  fertile  fields  respond  to  labor,  when  those  who  culti- 
vate them  are  themselves  the  stunted  product  of  a  warped, 
incomplete,  or  degenerate  civilization. 

These  early  colonists,  in  a  very  considerable  proportion,  were 
the  product  of  the  lower,  while  not  a  few  of  them  had  belonged 
to  or  descended  from  the  criminal,  classes.  The  higher  quali- 
ties of  mind  and  heart  which  often  distinguish  the  national 
character,  and  which  were  repeatedly  displayed  by  the  enter- 
prising and  loyal  French  who  came  to  this  country  after  1780, 
they  apparently  either  left  behind  them  or  never  possessed. 

Having  no  educational  system,  they  were  ignorant  alike  of 
their  rights,  duties,  and  responsibilities  as  citizens.  It  was  not 
for  the  interest  of  their  rulers  that  they  should  learn  either,  and 
they  were  as  destitute  of  ambition  as  the  animals  with  which 
they  plowed.  Like  children,  they  cheerfully  performed  the 
tasks  assigned  them,  stimulated  by  the  hope  of  the  promised 
play-time  which  was  sure  to  follow.  In  return  for  the  permis- 
sion to  indulge  in  their  chosen  pastimes  without  restraint,  they 
willingly  confided  their  government  to  others.  While  they 
were  light-hearted,  they  were  light-headed  as  well,  and  thrift- 
less; the  poorer  portion  laboring  only  long  enough  to  gain  a 
bare  subsistence  each  passing  day,  the  rest  of  the  time  being 
spent  in  sporting,  hunting,  and  wine  drinking.  Those  who  had 
slaves  compelled  them  to  labor  to  support  their  drunken  mas- 
ters in  idleness  and  debauchery.*  They  are  represented  as 
hard  masters,  and  overreaching  and  profligate  in  their  inter- 
course with  the  Indians. 

*  Lieut.  Frazier. 


108  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

Their  connection  with  the  latter,  indeed,  was  a  source  of 
injury  and  degradation  to  both  races.  It  was  found  that  it  was 
easier  for  the  French  to  descend  to  the  lower  plane  of  savage 
life  than  it  was  for  the  native  to  improve  by  the  specimen  of 
civilization  presented  him  by  the  French,  while  the  bad  qualities 
of  the  latter  were  adopted  naturally  and  without  an  effort. 
The  result  was  the  demoralization  and  decay  of  both,  so  that 
in  the  end  one  was  exterminated  and  the  other  compelled  to 
give  way  to  the  sterner  and  more  elevating  civilization  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon. 

As  remarked  by  a  close  observer  of  these  early  times,  we 
look  in  vain  for  the  monuments  of  this  ancient  population. 
Their  memorials  may  be  counted  upon  less  than  the  fingers 
of  one  hand.  With  not  one  single  important  work  of  educa- 
tion, art,  science,  culture,  benevolence,  or  religion  are  they 
associated.* 

*  O.  W.  Collet,  "Magazine  of  Western  History,"  I,  95. 

Authorities:  Gov.  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois";  Dillon's  Historical 
Notes;  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  by  Edward  G.  Mason,  president  of 
Chicago  Historical  Society;  Gayarre's  "Louisiana";  French's  "Louisiana";  Ameri- 
can State  Papers;  Papers  and  Manuscripts  by  O.  W.  Collet;  "  Early  History  of 
Illinois,"  by  Judge  Sidney  Breese;  Holmes'  "Annals";  "Western  Annals,"  by  J. 
H.  Perkins  and  J.  M.  Peck;  Papers  and  Manuscripts  in  Chicago  Historical  Society; 
"Magazine  of  Western  History";  Monette's  "Valley  of  the  Mississippi";  "Char- 
levoix, New  France,"  by  Shea;  Works  of  Judge  James  Hall;  Martin's  "Louisiana"; 
DuPratz'  "Louisiana";  Stoddard's  "Louisiana";  Bossu's  "Voyages";  "Decouvetes 
et  Establissements,"  etc.,  P.  Margry;  "Boundaries  of  Ontario,"  by  David  Mills. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

The  French -and -Indian  War — British  Claims — Wash- 
ington's Mission — Position  of  Illinois — How  affected — 
Why  the  French  Lost  the  Country,  1755-1763. 

THE  claim  of  the  British  to  the  rich  country  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  valleys  was  now  to  be  submitted  to  the 
adjudication  of  the  sword.  It  was  contended,  indeed,  that  this 
right  rested  not  only  upon  grants  from  the  crown  and  treaties 
with  the  original  owners,  but  upon  the  right  of  prior  discovery 
by  Col.  Wood,  in  1654,  and  by  Capt.  Bolt,  in  1670.* 

In  1698,  attention  had  been  directed  by  Dr.  d' Avenant,  in  a 
report  on  the  trade  and  revenues  of  England,  to  the  import- 
ance of  securing  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  the  danger  to  English  commercial  interests  if  the 
settlement  of  that  valuable  territory  by  the  French  was  not 
checked.*!*  To  carry  out  this  recommendation,  an  expedition 
was  promptly  fitted  out  by  the  English  government  this  same 
year,  consisting  of  a  small  frigate,  commanded  by  Capt.  Barr, 
and  another  vessel  commanded  by  Capt.  Clements,  with  instruc- 
tions to  take  possession  of  Louisiana  and  establish  a  colony  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. J  The  surprise  of  the  French 
governor,  Bienville,  when  returning  to  Biloxi  from  his  first 
exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  September  16,  1699,  at  meeting 
Capt.  Barr  on  his  way  up  may  be  imagined. 

An  interesting  conference  followed.  Bienville  demanded  of 
Capt.  Barr  what  he  was  doing  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and 
whether  he  was  not  aware  that  the  French  had  already  estab- 
lished themselves  in  that  country;  to  which  the  captain,  equally 
surprised  at  the  encounter,  replied  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the 
fact,  but  that  the  English  had  discovered  the  country  fifty  years 
before  and  therefore  had  a  prior  and  better  right  to  it  than  the 
French.     However,  without  making  any  demonstration,  he  re- 

*  Thomas  Hutchins  in  Gilbert  Imlay's  "Topographical  Description  of  the  West- 
ern Territory  of  North  America";  Coxe's  "Carolina,"  120;  "State  of  British  and 
French  Colonies  in  North  America,"  (1755),  107. 

t  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  29.  J  French's  "Louisiana,"  VI. ,  60. 

109 


110  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

versed  the  course  of  his  vessel  and  set  sail  in  the  direction  of 
the  gulf;  but  intimated  to  the  astonished  representative  of  the 
House  of  Bourbon  that  the  latter  would  hear  from  him  again.* 

At  about  the  same  time  it  was  ascertained  by  Iberville  that 
English  traders  from  Carolina  were  among  the  Chickasaws,  buy- 
ing furs  and  slaves,  and  that  a  party  of  Englishmen  had  left 
New  York  for  the  Illinois  country.-f-  To  fortify  the  claim  to 
the  country,  based  upon  right  of  discovery,  treaties  were  nego- 
tiated by  Great  Britain  with  the  Iroquois  in  1701,  and  subse- 
quently confirmed  in  1724-6.  By  these  instruments,  that 
powerful  nation  conveyed  their  territorial  rights  to  the  British, 
retaining  only  the  privilege  of  hunting.  But  as  the  Iroquois 
had  never  really  acquired  any  title  to  the  Northwest,  never 
having  resided  in  that  locality,  the  conveyance  was  certainly 
not  of  much  value.}:  Further,  to  strengthen  their  claim,  the 
British,  in  1748,  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  and  friendship 
with  the  Twightwees,  their  first  connection  with  the  Miami 
confederacy. § 

During  the  thirteen  years  which  followed,  both  Great  Britain 
and  France  were  too  much  absorbed  in  the  war  of  the  Spanish 
succession,  in  which  they  participated  on  opposite  sides,  to 
devote  much  attention  to  the  affairs  of  their  respective  colonies 
in  the  new  world.  The  peace  which  followed  the  formation  of 
the  triple  alliance  in  Europe,  in  1717,  remained  unbroken  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  the  relations  of  the  two 
countries  continued  on  a  friendly  footing.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  of  the  Austrian  succession,  in  1740,  these  hereditary 
foes  found  themselves  once  more  arrayed  on  opposing  sides. 
The  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1748,  brought  this  war  to  a 
close  so  far  as  the  peace  of  Europe  was  concerned,  but  the 
question  of  the  respective  rights  of  the  two  powers  in  North 
America  was  left  unsettled  by  that  rather  unsatisfactory  com- 
pact. The  ownership  of  the  territory  between  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  Mississippi  remained  still  in  dispute — a  casus  belli  des- 
tined to  bring  about  a  conflict  which  was  to  end  in  the  transfer 
of  a  continent. 

*  Fenicaut's  "Journal,"  French's  "Louisiana,"  Part  VI.,  60;  Sauvol's  "Journal,'* 
French's  "Louisiana,"  Part  III.,  229-38.        +  French's  "Louisiana,"  Part  VI.,  126. 

%  Beckwith's  "  Vermilion  County, "  224.         §  Dillon's  "  Historical  Notes, "  63. 


MAJ.  GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  I  I  I 

The  formation  of  the  Ohio  Land  Company,  in  1748-9,  and 
the  grant  to  it  by  the  British  government  of  half  a  million  acres 
of  land  along  the  Ohio  River,  with  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
trading  with  the  Indian  tribes,  precipitated  the  impending  con- 
flict. Surveys  and  explorations  by  Christopher  Gist,  the  agent 
of  the  company,  followed  in  1750-2,  and  a  trading-post  was 
established  on  Loramie  Creek,  forty-seven  miles  north  of 
Dayton. 

The  French  had,  in  the  meantime,  erected  a  fort  at  Presque 
Isle,  on  Lake  Erie,  and  soon  after  advanced  their  posts  to  the 
Alleghany  River.  These  hostile  demonstrations  were  viewed 
with  no  little  alarm  by  the  governors  of  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia. Gov.  Dinwiddie,  who  was  a  stockholder  therein,*  was  a 
ready  listener  to  complaints  by  the  Ohio  Company  of  these 
belligerent  acts,  and  appointed  Capt.  William  Trent  as  a  com- 
missioner to  expostulate  with  the  French  commander  on  the 
Ohio  concerning  his  aggressions  on  the  territory  of  his  Britannic 
majesty;  but  his  mission  proved  a  failure.  Dinwiddie,  however, 
was  not  discouraged,  and  at  once  began  to  look  about  for  a 
person  better  fitted  to  represent  the  government  in  so  delicate 
a  mission.  It  was  apparent  that  for  such  a  task  keen  sagacity 
was  as  essential  a  qualification  as  high  physical  and  moral 
courage. 

One  in  whom  these  qualities  were  happily  united  was  found 
in  the  person  of  Maj.  George  Washington,  then  adjutant-general 
of  the  Virginia  militia,  and  assigned  to  the  northern  division. 
Thus  the  history  of  the  "father  of  his  country  '  becomes  dis- 
tinctly connected  with  that  of  our  own  State,  which,  although 
at  that  time  in  hostile  possession,  eventually  became  a  part  of 
the  State  of  the  illustrious  Washington.  His  commission  bore 
date  October  30,  1753.  By  its  terms  he  was  directed  to  pro- 
ceed to  Logstown,  where,  after  presenting  his  credentials  to  the 
French  commander,  he  was  to  ascertain  what  had  given  occa- 
sion to  the  French  invasion  of  British  territory,  what  were  the 
pretensions  of  the  aggressors,  and  how  they  were  likely  to  be 
supported.  He  was  also  directed  diligently  to  inquire  into  the 
numbers  of  the  French  on  the  Ohio  and  in  the  adjacent  coun- 
try; and  correctly  to  inform  himself  as  to  the  number  and  loca- 

*  Irving's  "Washington,"  I.,  67. 


112  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

tion  of  the  enemy's  forts,  and  how  the  latter  were  garrisoned 
and  appointed. 

He  began  the  same  day  what  proved  to  be  a  perilous  and 
difficult  journey.  Often  sleeping  on  the  ground  without  a  tent, 
passing  through  the  storms  and  snows  of  winter,  in  danger  from 
treacherous  foes  in  a  wilderness  country,  he  developed  a  reso- 
lution, prudence,  sagacity,  and  hardihood  which  distinguished 
him  as  one  eminently  qualified  to  discharge  important  trusts 
involving  civil  as  well  as  military  responsibilities.  He  was  cour- 
teously received  by  the  French  officer,  Jacques  Repentigny  le 
Gardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  who  replied  to  the  governor's  communica- 
tion that  he  would  transmit  the  same  to  his  general,  the  Marquis 
Duquesne,  by  whose  answer  his  conduct  would  be  governed. 

On  returning,  the  weather  becoming  more  unfavorable  and 
the  roads  deep  with  snow,  the  horses  of  the  major  and  his  com- 
panion gave  out.  They  therefore  determined  to  prosecute  their 
journey  by  the  nearest  way,  through  the  woods,  on  foot.  This 
Washington  found  to  be  a  difficult  and  dangerous  expedient,  as 
the  following  extract  from  his  journal  shows: 

"  I  took  my  necessary  papers,  pulled  off  my  clothes,  and  tied 
myself  up  in  a  watch-coat.  Then  with  gun  in  hand  and  pack 
on  my  back,  in  which  were  my  papers  and  provisions,  I  set  out 
with  Mr.  Gist.  The  day  following,  just  after  we  passed  a  place 
called  'Murdering  Town,'  we  fell  in  with  a  party  of  French- 
Indians,  who  had  lain  in  wait  for  us.  One  of  them  fired  at  Mr. 
Gist  or  me,  not  fifteen  steps  off,  but  fortunately  missed.  We 
took  the  fellow  in  custody  and  kept  him  until  nine  o'clock  at 
night,  then  let  him  go,  walking  all  the  remaining  part  of  the 
night,  without  making  any  stops,  that  we  might  get  the  start  so 
far  as  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  their  pursuit  the  next  day. 
The  next  day  we  continued  traveling  until  quite  dark,  and  got 
to  the  river,  which  we  expected  to  find  frozen,  but  it  was  not — 
only  about  fifty  yards  from  each  shore.  There  was  no  way  of 
getting  over  but  on  a  raft,  which  we  set  about  with  but  one 
poor  hatchet,  and  finished  just  after  sunsetting.  This  was  a 
whole  day's  work.  We  next  got  it  launched,  then  went  on 
board  of  it,  and  set  off;  but  before  we  were  half-way  over  we 
were  jammed  in  the  ice  in  such  manner  that  we  expected  every 
moment  our  raft  to  sink  and  ourselves  to  perish.     I  put  out  my 


FORT   DUQUESNE.  113 

setting  pole  to  try  to  stop  the  raft,  that  the  ice  might  pass  by, 
when  the  rapidity  of  the  stream  threw  it  with  so  much  violence 
against  the  pole  that  it  jerked  me  out  into  ten  feet  of  water, 
but  I  fortunately  saved  myself  by  catching  hold  of  one  of  the 
raft  logs.  Notwithstanding  all  our  efforts,  we  could  not  get  to 
either  shore,  but  were  obliged,  as  we  were  near  an  island,  to 
quit  our  raft  and  make  to  it.  The  cold  was  so  extremely  severe 
that  Mr.  Gist  had  all  his  fingers  and  some  of  his  toes  frozen, 
and  the  water  was  shut  up  so  hard  that  we  found  no  difficulty 
in  getting  off  the  island  on  the  ice  in  the  morning,  and  went  on 
to  Mr.  Frazier's."    They  arrived  at  Williamsburg,  Jan.  16,  1754. 

The  information  brought  by  Washington  having  convinced 
the  governor  that  the  French  were  preparing  to  take  military 
possession  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  preparations  were  immediately 
made  to  counteract  such  a  step.  The  Ohio  Company  having 
begun  a  fort  at  the  confluence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monon- 
gahela  rivers,  Maj.  Washington  was  ordered,  in  the  spring  of 
1754,  to  proceed  thither  and  superintend  its  completion.  He 
set  out  from  Alexandria  with  a  force  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  but  was  so  delayed  by  unforeseen  difficulties  of  transpor- 
tation that  he  found  on  his  arrival  that  the  French  were  already 
there  in  advance  of  him.  A  force  of  about  one  thousand  men, 
under  Capt.  Antoine  Pecody,  Sieur  de  Contrecceur,  with  a  small 
park  of  light  artillery,  had  suddenly  appeared  before  the  fort, 
and,  after  driving  off  the  few  militiamen  and  workmen  who 
formed  its  garrison,  had  taken  possession.  The  French  com- 
pleted the  fort  and  named  it  Fort  Duquesne,  after  the  governor 
of  Canada.  And  this  was  the  first  blow  struck  in  the  French- 
and-Indian  war,  the  formal  declaration  of  which  was  not  made 
until  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Necessity.  Although  the  war  thus 
commenced  in  the  Ohio  Valley  extended  over  North  America, 
only  those  events  will  be  referred  to  here  which  relate  to  the 
Northwest  and  are  directly  connected  with  the  Illinois  country. 

Washington,  perceiving  the  situation,  determined  to  proceed 
with  his  small  command  to  the  Ohio  Company's  storehouses,  at 
the  mouth  of  Redstone  Creek.  On  his  way  he  encountered  a 
small  party  of  French,  under  the  Sieur  de  Jumonville  de  Villiers, 
who,  it  is  alleged,  had  been  despatched  with  a  formal  summons 
to  Washington,  requiring  him  to  withdraw  from  the  French  ter- 
8 


114  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

ritory.  This  party  was  successfully  attacked  by  Washington, 
May  28,  at  a  place  called  Little  Meadows.  It  was  his  first 
battle,  and  resulted  in  the  killing  of  ten  of  the  French,  includ- 
ing the  commander,  and  the  capture  of  twenty-one  prisoners, 
while  his  own  loss  was  but  one  killed  and  three  wounded. 
From  a  letter  found  on  the  person  of  Jumonville,  as  well  as 
from  his  conduct  in  waiting  for  reinforcements  before  delivering 
the  message  with  which  he  had  been  charged,  it  would  seem 
that  the  summons  was  in  fact  a  mere  pretext  to  cover  his  real 
design,  which  was  to  assume  the  initiative  and  attack  Washing- 
ton as  soon  as  he  felt  himself  numerically  able  to  do  so. 

On  learning  of  the  defeat  and  death  of  Jumonville,  his 
brother,  Coulon  de  Villiers,  who  had  been  despatched  for  this 
purpose  from  Montreal,  set  out  from  Fort  Duquesne  with  an 
army  of  five  hundred  French  and  seven  hundred  Indians  to 
avenge  his  death.  In  view  of  his  inferiority  in  numbers — his 
force  being  but  about  three  hundred  all  told,  Washington  re- 
treated to  the  Great  Meadows,  where  a  temporary  fortification 
was  thrown  up,  known  as  Fort  Necessity.  Here,  on  July  3, 
he  was  attacked  by  Villiers.  His  defense  against  great  odds 
was  most  ably  conducted,  but  in  the  end  he  was  compelled 
to  surrender  to  the  French.* 

This  affair  was  directly  connected  with  the  history  of  the 
Illinois  country.  Fort  Chartres  had  been  reinforced  under  the 
commandant,  the  Chevalier  Macarty  Mactique,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded Maj.  St.  Claire,  in  view  of  the  threatening  aspect  of  the 
situation  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  with  a  sufficient  number  of  com- 
panies to  form  a  regiment  of  grenadiers.  Macarty  was  in- 
structed to  rebuild  the  fort,  employing  stone  instead  of  wood 
in  its  construction. 

Besides  being  more  substantially  built,  the  new  fortification 
was  to  be  erected  on  a  larger  scale,  and  was  to  be  equipped 
with  what  were  then  known  as  the  "latest"  appliances  of  civil- 
ized warfare.  The  work  was  completed  in  1754  at  a  cost  of  a 
million  crowns — a  sum  equivalent  to  about  $1,000,000  in  U.-S. 
money,  and  pronounced  by  Capt.  Philip  Pittman,  who  inspected 
it  in  1766,  the  "most  convenient  and  best-built  fort  in  North 
America."      The  new   Fort   Chartres  was   in    the  form  of  an 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  71.     Parkman's  "Montcalm  and  Wolf,"  I.,  153. 


FORT   CHARTRES. 


115 


PLAN    OF   FORT   CHARTRES 

ON   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 

Drawn  from  a  survey  made  in  1820  by  Nicholas  Hansen  of  Illinois,  and 

Lewis  C.  Beck. 


/PAViNE 

AAA     The  exterior  wall — 1447  feet. 

B     The  gate  or  entrance  to  the  fort. 

C     A  small  gate. 

D  D     The  two  houses   formerly  occupied   by   the  commandant  and   commissary, 
each  96  feet  in  length  and  30  in  breadth. 

E     The  well. 
F     The  magazine. 

GGGG     Houses  formerly  occupied  as  barracks,  135  feet  in  length,  36  in  breadth. 
H  H     Formerly  occupied  as  a  storehouse  and  guard-house,  90  feet  by  24. 
I     The  remains  of  small  magazine. 
K     The  remains  of  a  furnace. 

ELL     A  ravine,  which  in  the  spring  is  filled  with  water.     Between  this  and  the 
river,  which  is  about  half-a-mile,  is  a  thick  growth  of  cotton-wood. 

The  area  of  the  fort  is  about  four  square  acres. 


Il6  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

irregular  quadrilateral.  The  total  length  of  its  four  sides,  by 
interior  measurement,  was  four  hundred  and  ninety  feet.  The 
entrance  was  an  arched  gate-way,  fifteen  feet  high,  while  its 
walls,  two  feet  two  inches  in  thickness,  rose  to  a  height  of 
eighteen  feet,  and  contained  four  bastions,  each  having  eight 
embrasures  and  a  sentry-box.  Within  these  walls  were  a  store- 
house, ninety  by  thirty  feet,  two  stories  high,  gable  roofed;  the 
government  house,  eighty-four  by  thirty-two  feet,  with  iron 
gates  and  stone  porch;  the  guard-house,  with  two  rooms  above 
for  a  chapel;  two  rows  of  barracks,  each  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet  long;  and  a  magazine,  thirty-eight  by  thirty- 
five  feet,  fifteen  feet  high;  besides  a  prison  with  four  dungeons 
and  a  guard-house. 

Upon  learning  of  the  defeat  and  death  of  Jumonville,  Capt. 
Neyon  de  Villiers  of  Fort  Chartres,  was  dispatched  with  a 
company  to  join  the  force  of  his  brother  Coulon,  from  Fort 
Duquesne,  and  aid  in  overcoming  "Monsieur  de  Wachenston," 
as  he  was  called  in  the  French  despatches.  The  favorable 
result  of  this  campaign  gave  the  gallant  captain  and  his  post 
on  the  Mississippi  a  well-earned  distinction. 

T*he  Illinois  country  was  largely  depended  upon  for  supplies, 
which  were  transported  in  boats  down  the  Mississippi  and  up 
the  Ohio  to  Fort  Duquesne,  in  which  service  Neyon  de  Villiers 
rendered  valuable  aid. 

Upon  hearing  of  the  capture  of  the  place  afterward  known 
as  Fort  Duquesne,  and  the  surrender  of  Fort  Necessity,  the 
British  government  determined  upon  a  more  vigorous  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war,  the  issue  of  which  was  fraught  with  such 
stupendous  consequences.  The  contest  was  altogether  unequal, 
so  far  as  the  colonies  were  concerned.  The  British  white  popu- 
lation in  1749  was  estimated  at  one  million  and  fifty-one  thou- 
sand, while  that  of  the  French — exclusive  of  their  Indian  allies 
— was  computed  at  only  fifty-two  thousand.* 

The  advantages  of  the  British  in  all  the  resources  of  war  and  in 
holding  the  interior  and  lesser  line  of  defence  were  even  greater 
than  was  their  superiority  in  numbers.  But  at  first,  success  was 
with  the  French.  The  disastrous  defeat  of  Gen.  Edward  Brad- 
dock,  near  Fort  Duquesne,  occurred  July  9,  1755,  in  which  his 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  66,  and  authorities  there  quoted. 


REDUCTION  OF  FORT  DUQUESNE.  WJ 

loss  in  killed  and  wounded,  out  of  a  force  of  twelve  hundred, 
amounted  to  seven  hundred  and  fourteen,  while  that  of  the 
French  and  Indians  was  only  sixty-seven.  By  this  victory,  the 
French  were  confirmed  in  the  possession  of  Fort  Duquesne, 
and  left  masters  of  the  Ohio  Valley  for  more  than  three  years. 

But  a  change  of  ministry  in  Great  Britain  had  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  foreign  office  the  great  Earl  of  Chatham, 
whose  splendid  genius,  displayed  in  marshalling  the  resources 
of  Great  Britain  and  in  directing  its  armies,  was  soon  rewarded 
with  a  succession  of  brilliant  victories  which  changed  the  aspect 
of  affairs  in  North  America.  By  1758,  the  British  forces  having 
been  largely  reinforced  from  Europe,  active  operations  were 
once  more  resumed  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Early  in  September,  Maj.  Grant,  with  a  force  of  eight  hun- 
dred Highlanders  and  a  company  of  Virginians,  was  ordered  to 
attack  Fort  Duquesne.  That  fortress  had  just  been  reinforced 
by  four  hundred  French  grenadiers  from  the  Illinois  district, 
under  command  of  the  Chevalier  Aubrey.  Grant,  dividing 
his  troops,  intending  to  draw  the  enemy  into  an  ambuscade, 
was  gallantly  attacked  in  detail  by  Aubrey,  who  obtained  a 
complete  victory  over  him,  inflicting  a  loss  of  three  hundred.* 
A  few  days  afterward,  this  intrepid  commander  made  another 
sortie  from  the  fort  and  surprised  a  British  camp  forty-five 
miles  away,  capturing  enough  horses  to  bring  his  command 
back  mounted.-f- 

On  November  25,  1758,  Gen.  Washington,  commanding  the 
advance  of  a  British  army  seven  thousand  strong,  appeared 
before  the  fort.  The  French,  who  by  this  time  numbered  only 
four  hundred,  the  most  of  whom  had  come  from  Fort  Chartres, 
decided  to  destroy  the  fort  and  retreat  by  the  light  of  its 
burning  stockades.  The  greater  portion  of  the  garrison  suc- 
cessfully retired  to  Fort  Machault,  some  miles  up  the  river, 
while  the  remainder,  with  the  artillery — some  of  which  was 
doubtless  used  at  Fort  Massac — made  their  escape  by  the  Ohio 
River  to  the  Illinois.^ 

The  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne,  which  the  British  repaired 

*  Bancroft,  IV.,  312. 

t  E.  G.  Mason's  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century." 

X  Paris  Doc,  956;  Parkman's  "Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  II.,  159. 


Il8  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  rechristened  Fort  Pitt,  terminated  French  domination  in 
the  Ohio  Valley.  The  various  tribes  of  Indians  between  the 
Ohio  River  and  the  lakes,  who  had  hitherto  been  the  allies  of 
the  French,  upon  seeing  their  discomfiture  were  ready  to  make 
terms  with  the  conquerors.*  Yet,  when  it  was  determined  to 
attempt  to  raise  the  siege  of  Fort  Niagara,  all  the  Indian  vil- 
lages in  Illinois,  with  characteristic  inconsistency,  furnished 
volunteers  to  join  the  forces  from  Detroit  and  Mackinac,  who 
were  again  gallantly  led  by  the  brave  Aubrey  in  this  desperate 
enterprise. 

Upon  reaching  the  scene,  on  July  24,  1759,  they  made  a  gal- 
lant charge  upon  the  investing  force,  commanded  by  Sir  William 
Johnson ;  but  after  a  sharp  conflict  were  repulsed  with  great  loss. 
Of  the  Illinois  volunteers  a  large  number  were  killed,  wounded, 
and  taken  prisoners,  among  the  latter  being  their  commander.-f- 
The  defeat  was  a  disastrous  one  to  the  French  authorities  at 
Fort  Chartres.  Commandant  Macarty  reported  that  the  expe- 
dition had  cost  him  "the  flower  of  his  men,  and  that  his  garri- 
son was  weaker  than  ever." 

But  the  final  and  fatal  blow  which  broke  the  power  of  the 
French  in  North  America  was  given  at  Quebec,  at  the  battle 
of  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  September  13,  1759.  Here  the 
French  met  their  entire  overthrow  at  the  hands  of  the  British, 
under  the  noble  Wolfe.  The  lives  of  the  commanders  of  both 
armies  were  lost  on  the  sanguinary  field.  The  glorious  result 
of  this  day's  conflict  was  celebrated  by  the  proclamation  of  a 
day  of  thanksgiving  and  rejoicing  throughout  the  dominions  of 
Great  Britain. 

The  surrender  of  Montreal,  Detroit,  Mackinac,  and  other 
posts  the  following  year  practically  ended  the  war.  But  Illi- 
nois remained  loyal  to  France.  Succeeding  Macarty,  Neyon 
de  Villiers,  who  had  proved  himself  so  brave  and  efficient,  was 
promoted  to  the  command  in  1761.  It  was  hoped  that  although 
Canada  was  lost,  Louisiana  and  Illinois,  at  least,  might  be  saved 
to  the  French.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  For  the  loss  of  Florida, 
France,  on  the  same  day,  indemnified  Spain,  by  ceding  to  that 
power  New  Orleans  and  all  of  Louisiana  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.* 

*  Irving's  "Washington,"  I.,  263.       t  Irving  and  Mason.       £  Bancroft,  IV.,  452. 


TRIUMPH   OF   THE   BRITISH.  1 19 

This  treaty  sounded  the  death-knell  of  French  hopes  and 
ambitions  in  Illinois.  The  beautiful  country  which  had  been  the 
birthplace  of  many  and  in  which  nearly  all  had  so  long  resided, 
which  had  been  first  discovered  and  secured  to  them  by  French 
enterprise,  and  for  the  retention  of  which  so  many  of  their  race 
and  kindred  had  offered  their  lives  on  well-contested  fields  of 
battle,  was  theirs  no  longer.  Its  control  had  passed  into  the 
hands  of  a  hated  and  hereditary  foe,  and  its  surrender  was 
regarded  by  them  with  much  the  same  feelings  of  profound 
personal  loss  as  those  of  the  French  inhabitants  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  when  their  beautiful  province  was  surrendered  to  the 
Germans  a  century  later.  Of  the  seven  brothers  who  bore  the 
family  name  of  Villiers,  six  had  been  slain  in  defence  of  Canada.* 
The  gallant  Commandant  Neyon  was  the  only  survivor.  De- 
spondent, yet  still  devoted  and  hoping  that  Lower  Louisiana 
had  been  saved  to  his  country,  with  a  few  followers  he  departed 
for  New  Orleans.  The  last  French  commandant  of  the  Illinois 
district  was  the  veteran  St.  Ange,  who  under  orders  proceeded 
from  Vincennes,  and,  with  a  force  of  forty  men,  held  Fort 
Chartres  for  the  new  owners  until  they  demanded  possession. 
It  was  the  last  place  on  the  continent  of  North  America  to  fly 
the  French  flag. 

It  has  been  often  said  that  the  French  sought  the  new  world 
to  advance  the  cause  of  religion,  the  Spaniards  to  seek  for 
treasure,  and  the  British  to  secure  greater  freedom  of  thought 
and  action.  Although  this  statement  has  too  often  served  to 
emphasize  a  rhetorical  period,  it  can  not  be  said  to  be  destitute 
of  foundation  in  fact. 

While  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  French  showed  a  capacity 
for  undertaking  large  problems  in  political  geography,  a  genius 
for  exploration,  and  a  talent  for  guiding  their  way  to  dominion 
in  decidedly  favorable  contrast  with  the  slower  and  "blundering 
processes  of  their  British  rivals,"f  they  failed  to  utilize  the  results 
which  they  had  accomplished,  or  to  take  advantage  of  what 
they  had  acquired.  They  saw  and  claimed  more  than  they  had 
the  ability  to  hold  or  possess.  Their  line  of  dominion  extended 
from  the  St.  Lawrence  around  the  great  lakes  and  through 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  a  distance 

*  "Bossu's  Voyages,"  Part  I.,  161.  t  Winsor's  "America,"  IV.,  23. 


120  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

of  over  three  thousand  miles.  Throughout  this  splendid  domain 
they  established  missionary  stations  and  erected  forts;  but  such 
were  the  inherent  imperfections  of  their  system  that,  although 
they  occupied  the  country  for  over  eighty  years,  they  had  not 
succeeded  in  gathering  a  permanent  population  of  over  four 
thousand  white  inhabitants  from  Lake  Michigan  to  New  Or- 
leans. Agriculture  was  confined  to  small  holdings.  Instead 
of  offering  inducements  to  tillers  of  the  soil  to  become  owners 
of  their  farms,  their  grants  were  generally  held  under  seign- 
iorial rights.  And  although  rents  were  moderate,  transfers  and 
sales  of  lands  were  burdened  with  restrictions  and  heavy  fines.* 
But  another,  and  indeed  the  crowning,  cause  of  the  failure 
of  the  French  settlements  is  found  in  the  fact  that  their  ener- 
gies were  paralyzed  by  the  vice-like  grip  of  commercial  monop- 
olies, under  whose  autocratic  sway  the  inhabitants  were  forced 
to  buy  and  sell  in  such  quantities  and  at  such  times  and  prices 
as  an  oligarchy  of  favorites  might  see  fit  to  establish,  thus 
stamping  out  all  mercantile  competition  and  even  ambition. 

In  addition  to  the  defects  in  their  systems  of  land  titles  and 
of  commerce,  the  French  authorities  never  sought  to  introduce 
any  scheme  of  education.  They  apparently  preferred  that  the 
people  should  remain  in  ignorance,  lest  greater  knowledge  might 
awaken  discontent  and  possibly  lead  to  revolt.  That  they  did 
not  care  for  an  intelligent  population  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  during  the  entire  period  of  French  domination  in  Canada 
not  a  printing-press  was  to  be  found  throughout  the  province. 

The  British  policy  was  radically  different.  They  stuck  to 
the  soil,  which  they  were  encouraged  to  cultivate;  they  built 
homes,  which  they  had  every  interest  to  protect  and  defend. 
While  they  brought  with  them  from  the  mother  country  their 
love  of  freedom  and  of  what  they  termed  "English  privileges," 
they  left  behind  their  respect  for  class  distinction.  They  organ- 
ized themselves  into  bodies  of  freeholders,  in  which  every  citizen 
had  a  voice  and  a  vote.  They  encouraged  learning  and  estab- 
lished schools  and  colleges,  while  the  printing-press  furnished 
them  the  newspaper,  books,  and  pamphlets.  They  also  encour- 
aged the  practice  of  industrial  arts,  in  order  that  each  commu- 
nity might  become  self-sustaining.  These  settlements,  mostly 
*  Bancroft,  IV.,  459. 


NATIONAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  121 

in  rocky  New  England,  where  was  required  a  constant  struggle 
for  existence,  continued  to  grow  and  increase  so  that,  although 
planted  at  about  the  same  time  as  those  of  the  French,  when 
the  war  broke  out  which  resulted  in  the  transfer  of  an  empire 
from  the  one  power  to  the  other,  the  former  numbered  twenty 
to  one  of  the  latter. 

The  French  loved  to  roam  in  the  trackless  woods  or  on  the 
wild  prairies  with  the  natives.  Their  traders  were  after  furs, 
their  explorers  intent  upon  discoveries,  while  their  missionaries 
sought  for  souls.  On  the  other  hand,  the  British  settler  was 
most  happy  when  seated  by  his  own  fireside  in  the  home  which 
his  own  hands  had  made.  While  more  or  less  engaged  in  com- 
mercial pursuits,  his  chief  interest  was  in  the  soil.  For  him  the 
affairs  of  government  exercised  a  peculiar  charm;  he  was  as 
punctual  at  the  "town  meeting"  as  at  the  house  of  divine  wor- 
ship, and  the  fervor  with  which  he  discharged  his  round  of 
religious  duties  was  only  equalled  by  the  zeal  with  which  he 
participated  in  elections.  The  christianizing  of  the  Indians 
he  was  entirely  willing  to  relegate  to  the  clergy.  The  only 
interest  which  the  average  layman  felt  in  either  the  temporal 
or  spiritual  welfare  of  his  dusky,  aboriginal  brother  was  a 
possibly  latent  but  certainly  fervid  desire  to  get  him  out  of 
the  way. 

That  the  sturdy  independence  of  the  British  induced  a  civili- 
zation far  more  hardy  than  the  exterior  polish  of  their  French 
antagonists  has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  at  Crecy  and 
Waterloo,  in  the  old  world,  and  at  Niagara  and  Quebec  in  the 
new.  And  it  is  to  the  difference  in  the  two  civilizations  that 
may  be  attributed  the  loss,  by  the  French,  of  their  magnificent 
domain  in  North  America. 

In  France,  an  influential  party,  so  far  from  deploring  this  loss 
as  a  national  calamity,  regarded  the  event  as  presaging  the 
downfall  of  a  corrupt  dynasty,  enervated  by  licentiousness  and 
brutalized  by  power.  Thoughtful  minds  recognized  in  the 
humiliation  of  the  House  of  Bourbon  the  triumph  of  constitu- 
tional freedom  over  despotism.  In  their  intense  desire  for  a 
radical  reform  of  the  organization  of  government  and  of  so- 
ciety, they  were  willing  to  endure  even  national  humiliation, 
provided  it  tended  toward  national  liberation  from  a  galling 


122  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

yoke.*  They  fixed  the  responsibility  for  the  downfall  of  French 
power  in  America  where  it  belonged.  They  recognized  the 
patriotism  and  fidelity  with  which  Montcalm's  veterans,  practi- 
cally deserted  by  the  home  government,  had  loyally  battled  for 
their  king.  They  paid  ungrudging  homage  to  their  devotion, 
their  endurance,  and  their  chivalry;  but  this  very  appreciation 
of  the  gallant  services  of  the  men  who  had  offered  their  lives 
on  the  altar  of  patriotism  intensified  their  bitterness  toward  the 
despot  who  had  necessitated  the  sacrifice,  and  accepted  it  with- 
out recognition.  They  foresaw  the  ultimate  enfranchisement  of 
the  Anglo-American  colonies,  and  between  the  lines  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  they  read  the  promise  of  the  liberation  of 
France  through  the  coming  revolution. 

*  Voltaire,  at  Ferney,  emphasizing  these  sentiments,  celebrated  the  triumph  of 
the  British  at  Quebec  by  a  banquet,  the  performance  of  the  drama  of  the  "Island 
Patriot,"  and  a  brilliant  pyrotechnic  display,  accompanied  by  martial  music. — Gar- 
neau's  "History  of  Canada." 

Authorities:  Dillon's  "Early  Settlement  of  the  Northwest  Territory";  E.  G. 
Mason's  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century";  Geo.  Imlay's  "Western  Territory"; 
French's  "Historical  Collection  of  Louisiana";  Parkman's  "Montcalm  and  Wolfe"; 
* Annals  of  the  West";  "Magazine  of  Western  History";  Winsor's  "America"; 
Bancroft's  "United  States";  "History  of  Canada,"  by  F.  X.  Garneau;  "Conquest 
of  Canada,"  E.  Warburton;  "The  Old  French  War,"  Rossiter  Johnson;  "History 
of  Canada,"  John  MacMullen;  "  Cours  d'Histoire  du  Canada,"  par  J.  B.  A.  Ferland. 


Period  II. — Under  the  British,  1761-1778. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Pontiac's  War— His  Failure  and  Death. 

ALTHOUGH  the  British  had  been  able  to  rescue  from  their 
French  rivals  the  coveted  and  long-disputed  ownership  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  a  lion,  rampant,  relentless,  and  revengeful, 
stood  in  the  path  of  the  peaceful  occupancy  of  the  territory  by  its 
conquerors.  The  spirit  of  the  Indians  remained  yet  unsubdued. 
Neither  their  wishes  nor  their  interests  had  been  consulted  by 
the  parties  to  the  treaty  of  Paris,  a  fact  of  which  the  British 
were  soon  reminded  by  the  unlooked-for  and  sanguinary  sequel 
to  the  French-and-Indian  War,  known  as  the  Pontiac  War — the 
revolt  of  the  Indians  under  Pontiac,  chief  of  the  Ottawas.  The 
object  of  the  insurrection  was  to  wrest  from  the  hated  British 
the  domain  which  French  valor,  even  with  the  aid  of  their 
Indian  allies,  had  failed  to  hold.  In  this  great  chief  were 
united  all  the  best  and  worst  traits  of  Indian  character,  and 
both  were  clearly  displayed  in  the  war  of  which  he  was  the 
master-spirit.  That  such  an  outbreak  could  end  in  but  one 
way  was  to  have  been  expected,  yet  such  was  the  bravery  and 
cunning  of  the  Indians  that  for  over  two  years  they  success- 
fully hindered  the  British  government  from  reducing  to  posses- 
sion the  country  of  the  Illinois. 

The  Indians  had  observed  with  no  friendly  eye  the  surrender 
of  Detroit,  Mackinac,  and  other  French  posts  in  the  North- 
west in  1 76 1.  The  first  open  manifestation  of  their  discontent 
occurred  when  the  British  troops,  under  Maj.  Robert  Rogers,  were 
marching  to  take  possession  of  the  fort  first  named.  The  watch- 
ful and  wily  Pontiac  placed  himself  in  his  path,  and  inquired 
why  an  invading  force  had  entered  upon  his  territory.  The 
British  officer  assured  his  aboriginal  majesty  that  the  troops  of 
King  George  did  not  contemplate  any  interference  with  the 
rights  of  the  children  of  the  forest;  that  it  was  their  intention 
simply  to  take  peaceable  possession  of  the  military  posts  which 

123 


124  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

had  been  vacated  by  the  French  under  treaty  stipulations. 
This  explanation  was  apparently  satisfactory  to  the  savage 
chieftain.  The  pipe  of  peace  was  smoked,  and  Pontiac  assured 
Maj.  Rogers  that  not  only  should  his  command  pass  unmolested 
through  the  land  of  the  Ottawas,  but  that  it  should  receive  the 
protection  of  the  warriors  of  that  nation. 

This  friendly  understanding,  however,  was  not  destined  to  be 
of  long  duration.  Pontiac  had  been  the  constant  friend  and 
active  ally  of  the  French,  whose  fortunes  he  had  shared  upon 
many  a  sanguinary  field,  from  the  defeat  of  Braddock  to  the 
capitulation  of  Fort  Niagara.  To  witness  the  expulsion  of  his 
ancient  friends,  and  to  see  their  places  filled  by  the  foe  whom 
he  hated  in  every  fibre  of  his  untutored  nature,  and  whom  he 
had  so  long  opposed  with  all  the  bravery  and  cruelty  of  an 
untamed  savage,  could  hardly  fail  to  excite  in  his  breast  feel- 
ings of  deadly  animosity.  This  feeling  was  intensified  by  the 
pointed  contrast  in  the  demeanor,  toward  himself  and  his 
people,  of  his  former  friends  and  his  would-be  masters.  The 
French  had  been  affable  and  easy-going;  the  British  were 
haughty  and  contemptuous.  The  former  had  treated  their  un- 
civilized allies  as  friends  and  equals;  the  latter  regarded  them 
as  inferiors  and  dependents.  French  missionaries  had  been 
among  his  people;  they  had  baptized  their  children;  they  had 
buried  their  dead;  they  had  won  from  a  portion  of  his  people 
at  least  an  external  observance  of  the  same  religion  which  they 
professed.  The  association  of  the  traders  and  settlers  with  the 
natives  had  been  agreeable  and  satisfactory.  The  French  had 
not  offensively  asserted  their  superiority;  they  had  been  willing 
to  learn  many  things  from  their  savage  friends,  and  not  a  few  In- 
dian women  had  been  wooed  and  won  by  their  foreign  admirers. 

It  can  not,  therefore,  be  wondered  at  that  Pontiac,  brooding 
in  his  wigwam  over  the  loss  of  the  friendship  for  which  he 
would  have  sacrificed  his  all,  nursing  his  sense  of  wrongs — even 
if  fancied  rather  than  real — should  have  meditated  plans  for 
revenge.  In  such  feelings  he  was  not  alone.  Other  chiefs  also 
deplored  the  change  which  they  feared  they  were  powerless  to 
counteract.  The  French  settlers  who  remained  in  the  Illinois 
district  after  its  cession  to  the  British  crown  were  quick  to 
perceive  this  sentiment,  and  no  less  ready  to  fan  the  smoulder- 


ATTACK   ON   DETROIT.  1 25 

ing  embers  of  discontent  into  the  flames  of  war.  Timely  dis- 
covery alone  prevented  the  successful  execution  of  a  plot  to 
capture  Detroit  in  1762,  and  other  hostile  demonstrations  were 
frustrated  only  by  the  vigilance  of  the  British  garrison. 

Pontiac's  influence  over  the  Indians  —  not  only  of  his  own 
tribe,  but  also  of  others,  by  whom  he  was  regarded  as  an 
"uncrowned  king" — was  practically  unbounded.  It  was  an  easy 
task  for  so  popular  a  chief  to  visit  the  tribes  in  the  Illinois 
country  and  adjacent  territory  and  to  impart  to  them  his  own 
distrust  of  the  "British  invaders."  It  was  not  difficult  for  him 
to  convince  his  willing  listeners  that  the  ultimate  designs  of 
their  former  foes  embraced  not  only  a  plan  to  occupy  the 
surrendered  French  forts,  but  also  a  scheme,  regardless  of  the 
original  proprietorship  of  the  country,  to  take  their  lands  and 
extirpate  the  entire  Indian  race.  In  consequence  of  his  repre- 
sentations and  personal  solicitations,  a  powerful  Indian  confed- 
eracy was  secretly  formed,  embracing  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas, 
Pottawatomies,  Sacs,  Foxes,  Menominees,  Miamis,  Shawnees, 
and  Wyandotts,  besides  the  scattered  remnants  of  other  tribes, 
to  make  war  upon  the  British.  So  strong  a  confederation  of 
aborigines  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  common  end  had  never 
before  been  formed  in  North  America. 

At  a  conference  of  chiefs,  it  was  determined  to  make  an 
attack — as  nearly  simultaneous  as  possible — upon  the  British 
posts  in  the  succeeding  May  (1763).  So  well  laid  were  the 
plans  of  the  crafty  leader  that  the  forts  of  Mackinac,  Sandusky, 
Green  Bay,  St.  Joseph,  Presque  Isle,  and  Venango  fell  an  easy 
prey  into  his  hands.  The  capture  of  Detroit,  Pontiac  reserved 
to  himself,  and  his  tactics  showed  the  native  treachery  of  the 
savage.  Pretending  that  he  desired  a  friendly  interview  with 
the  commandant,  Maj.  Henry  Gladwin,  he  encamped,  with  the 
women  and  children  of  the  tribe,  within  a  convenient  distance 
of  the  fort,  the  garrison  of  which  numbered  but  one  hundred 
and  seventy-four  men,  while  the  Ottawa  braves  were  about  four 
hundred  in  number.  His  request  for  a  powwow  was  readily 
granted  by  the  officer  in  command,  who  appeared  to  be  devoid 
of  suspicion,  and  Pontiac,  with  a  number  of  his  chosen  warriors, 
were  admitted  within  the  fort.  The  arms  of  the  Indians  were 
concealed  by  the  drapery  of  their  blankets. 


126  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

The  plan  of  the  attacking  party  had  been  to  massacre  the 
British  officers  at  a  given  signal,  after  which  the  gates  were  to 
be  thrown  open  for  the  admission  of  the  remainder  of  the  band, 
who  were  to  lend  their  aid  in  completing  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion. But  the  gallantry  of  the  major  had  won  the  attachment 
of  a  girl  of  the  Ojibways,  whose  devotion  to  her  lover  proved 
to  be  superior  to  her  fealty  to  her  race.  She  discovered  the 
plot  and  disclosed  it  to  the  commandant.  Pontiac  was  admitted 
with  his  chosen  band,  and  Maj.  Gladwin  patiently  listened  to 
his  haughty  demands,  couched  in  the  grandiloquent  language 
characteristic  of  Indian  oratory.  But  just  as  the  preconcerted 
signal  was  about  to  be  given,  the  drums  of  the  fort  rolled  out 
the  call  to  arms,  and  the  outwitted  chief  found  himself  sur- 
rounded by  troops  with  loaded  muskets,  commanded  by  officers 
whose  drawn  swords  showed  how  cheap  a  price  they  placed 
upon  the  blood  of  himself  and  his  co-conspirators.  The  dis- 
concerted chief  was  quick  to  realize  the  failure  of  his  plan  and 
to  perceive  his  own  discomfiture.  Adopting  a  tone  as  humble 
as  it  had  been  arrogant,  he  sued  for  favor.  After  a  few  stern 
words  of  warning  from  Gladwin,  the  gates  were  thrown  open 
and  the  baffled  band  permitted  to  depart. 

The  next  day,  an  attack  was  made  upon  the  fort,  but  after  a 
six-hours'  contest  the  Ottawas  were  forced  sullenly  to  retire. 
A  three-months'  siege  followed,  during  which  many  desperate 
assaults  were  made  upon  the  fort. 

At  the  same  time  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares  were  laying 
siege  to  Fort  Pitt,  where  frequent  skirmishes  took  place.  The 
successful  resistance  made  by  the  defenders  of  both  these  posts 
had  the  effect  of  raising  the  already  inflamed  passions  of  the 
savages  to  fever  heat.  They  wreaked  their  vengeance  on  the 
unprotected  settlements  along  the  western  frontiers  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania,  among  which  they  spread  desolation 
and  death.  The  defenceless  colonists  were  first  plundered  and 
then  wantonly  butchered.  Homes  were  reduced  to  heaps  of 
smoking  ruins,  and  all  the  revolting  excesses  known  to  savage 
warfare  were  practised  upon  their  helpless  inmates.  The  atroc- 
ities of  the  confederated  tribes  equaled  in  horror  those  of  King 
Philip's  war  in  New  England  ;  nothing  like  it  had  ever  been 
witnessed  in  the  valleys  of  the  West.  It  was,  in  all  its  essential 
elements,  a  war  of  extermination. 


EXPEDITIONS   OF   BRADSTREET   AND   BOUQUET.  12/ 

That  the  French  officers  who  had  been  requested  by  the 
British  to  continue  in  command,  owing  to  the  obstacles  which 
the  latter  found  thrown  in  their  way  by  the  Indians,  might 
have  exerted  a  restraining  influence  over  their  former  allies  had 
they  so  desired  is  as  certain  as  is  the  fact  that  at  first  their 
sympathies  were  with  the  savages.  The  latter  also  received 
from  them  moral  support,  and  material  aid  as  well  in  the  form 
of  provisions  and  munitions  of  war.  It  has  even  been  alleged 
that  not  until  Gen.  Amherst  had  remonstrated  with  Villiers, 
upon  conduct  which  was  in  as  direct  violation  of  the  spirit  of 
treaty  obligations  as  it  was  contrary  to  the  principles  of  civili- 
zation, did  the  French  commander  advise  the  Indians  that  gov- 
ernmental control  of  the  western  territory  had  been  ceded  to 
the  British  by  solemn  treaty,  whose  terms  he  must  not  violate. 
On  the  other  hand,  Gayarre  contends,  upon  what  seems  to  be 
credible  authority,  that  Villiers  acted  in  good  faith  toward  the 
British* 

Finding  that  only  the  adoption  of  the  most  determined  policy 
would  avail  to  bring  hostilities  to  a  close,  it  was  resolved  in 
1764  to  dispatch  a  force  of  three  thousand  men,  under  Gen.  John 
Bradstreet,  against  the  tribes  in  the  neighborhood,  of  the  great 
lakes,  while  Col.  Henry  Bouquet  was  placed  in  command  of  an 
expedition  against  the  Delawares  and  Shawnees.  Upon  the 
arrival  of  Gen.  Bradstreet  at  Detroit  in  October,  1764,  the  terms 
of  a  treaty  of  peace  were  agreed  upon  with  the  Ottawas,  Sacs, 
Wyandots,  and  other  western  tribes,  but  its  provisions  were  so- 
repugnant  to  the  views  of  Gen.  Thomas  Gage,  when  informed 
of  them,  that  they  were  rejected  and  subsequently  arranged 
upon  a  more  satisfactory  basis. 

Col.  Bouquet  having  gallantly  defeated  the  savages  at  Bushy 
Run  (Westmoreland  County,  Penn.),  they,  becoming  alarmed  at 
the  formidable  character  of  the  preparations  to  subdue  them, 
and  having  grown  weary  of  prolonging  a  war  hitherto  barren  of 
any  beneficial  results  to  them,  the  Delawares  and  Shawnees 
sued  for  a  truce,  and  the  terms  of  peace  were  finally  agreed 
upon  Dec.  5,  1764. 

The  scenes  attending  the  release  of  prisoners — a  necessary 
incident  to  the  conclusion  of  peace — many  of  whom  had  been 

*  Gayarre's  "  Louisiaaa, "  II,  99. 


128  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

in  the  hands  of  the  Indians  for  years,  were  attended  with  dem- 
onstrations which  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  grizzled  veterans, 
and  even  moved  Indian  stoicism  to  the  betrayal  of  emotion. 
Mothers  again  beheld  their  long-lost  children.  Husbands  em- 
braced their  wives  whom  they  had  mourned  as  either  dead  or 
dishonored.  But  others,  alas,  who  had  hoped  to  meet  their 
loved  ones  once  more  found  that  they  had  perished  either  by 
the  tomahawk  or  through  cruel  exposure.  Some  children  had 
forgotten  not  only  their  mothers,  but  their  mother-tongue;  and 
there  were  found  young  women  who  were  decidedly  opposed 
to  being  taken  from  their  savage  lords,  the  fathers  of  their  off- 
spring, some  of  whom  sought  the  earliest  opportunity  of  return- 
ing to  the  wigwam,  where  they  voluntarily  reassumed  the  pos- 
ition of  a  squaw. 

The  relentless  spirit  of  the  morose  Pontiac,  however,  was  still 
unsubdued.  He  sullenly  refused  to  take  part  in  any  negotia- 
tions for  peace,  and — like  Achilles  at  the  siege  of  Troy — "  re- 
mained, sulking,  in  his  tent."  Loving  the  French  as  sincerely 
as  he  hated  the  British,  he  had  risked  all  in  what  he  believed 
to  be  their  interest.  That  he  had  confidently  counted  upon 
their  aid  and  had  hoped  to  see  French  troops  again  fighting 
side  by  side  with  his  own  warriors  can  not  be  doubted.  Ordi- 
nary caution,  however,  had  prevented  the  crafty  Gauls  from 
furnishing  Pontiac  with  men,  and  the  blunt  savage  declared  that 
he  had  been  deceived.  His  confederates  had  made  terms — each 
for  themselves — with  those  whom  he  considered  a  common  foe, 
and  not  a  few  of  his  own  warriors  had  deserted  him.  Despond- 
ent, yet  revengeful,  he  returned  to  the  Illinois  country.  Here 
he  had  first  received  the  encouragment  from  French  traders  and 
settlers  which  determined  him  to  make  his  desperate  attempt 
to  throw  off  the  British  yoke,  and  here,  at  least,  he  would  find 
his  old  friend  Villiers,  to  whom  he  went,  and  to  that  officer 
he  unfolded  his  plans  for  a  continuance  of  the  war,  and  sought 
cooperation.  But  the  Frenchman  coldly  told  him,  as  he  had 
already  sent  him  word,  that  France  and  Great  Britain  were 
at  peace  and  that  his  cherished  scheme  was  impracticable. 

Notwithstanding  this  rebuff,  he  continued  his  efforts  to  form 
a  new  league,  visiting  the  Kickapoos,  Miamis,  and  others,  and 
succeeded   to  some  extent   in  reviving   the  war-spirit  among 


PONTIAC  S   SURRENDER   AND    DEATH.  1 29 

them.  Feeling  once  more  hopeful,  and  learning  that  his  friend 
St.  Ange  was  now  in  command  at  Fort  Chartres,  he  repaired  to 
that  point  and  demanded  of  that  officer  arms,  ammunition,  and 
troops,  stating  that  he  loved  the  French  and  that  he  would 
yet  succeed  in  avenging  their  wrongs.  St.  Ange,  with  equal 
kindness  and  firmness,  protested  his  inability  to  furnish  the  aid 
requested.  The  great  chief  bitterly  declaimed  against  such 
lukewarm  friendship,  and,  with  his  warriors,  encamped  about 
the  fort  in  a  menacing  attitude  for  some  days. 

Disappointed  here,  he  next  turned  to  New  Orleans.  Thither 
he  dispatched  an  embassy  of  trusted  braves,  whose  return  only 
added  to  his  chagrin  when  they  told  their  tale  of  ill-success. 
Failing  to  secure  French  cooperation  and  support,  and  deserted 
in  great  measure  by  his  confederates,  the  great  chief  at  length 
perceived  the  folly  of  attempting  to  carry  on  unaided  a  struggle 
which  could  have  but  one  result.  Learning  therefore  of  the 
approach  of  Col.  Croghan,  he  resolved  to  go  and  meet  him  and 
to  apprise  him  of  his  intention  to  establish  friendly  relations 
with  those  whom  he  saw  no  way  to  defeat.  The  conference 
which  ensued  was  entirely  satisfactory,  and  Pontiac  soon  after 
followed  the  colonel  to  Detroit.  At  the  great  powwow  which 
followed — in  August,  1765  —  all  the  western  tribes  were  repre- 
sented, and  after  much  speech-making,  the  terms  of  peace  were 
finally  agreed  upon,  which  were  to  be  thereafter  incorporated  in 
a  treaty  executed  on  the  part  of  the  conquerors  by  Sir  Wm. 
Johnson. 

Thus  terminated  the  great  War  of  Pontiac,  and  with  it  all 
his  hopes  of  the  restoration  of  the  empire  of  France  in  America. 
The  following  spring,  according  to  agreement,  he  assisted  at  the 
making  of  a  treaty  with  the  British,  and  thenceforth  the  great 
chief  disappears  from  the  pages  of  history.  Even  the  man- 
ner of  his  death  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  As  related  by  Francis 
Parkman  on  the  authority  of  Pierre  Chouteau  it  was  as  follows: 
Pontiac  had  been  paying  a  visit  to  his  old  friends  St.  Ange 
and  Chouteau  at  St.  Louis,  where,  learning  that  a  large  party  of 
Indians  were  carousing  at  Cahokia,  he  concluded,  against  the 
protest  of  his  friends,  to  join  them.  Here  with  the  others  he 
drank  deeply,  and  while  in  this  condition,  one  Williamson,  an 
English  trader,  hired  a  strolling  Kaskaskia  Indian  for  a  barrel 
9 


130  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

of  whisky  to  take  his  life.  This  he  did  by  stealing  up  behind 
him  and  burying  a  tomahawk  in  his  brains.  He  lay  on  the 
spot  where  he  had  fallen  until  St.  Ange,  hearing  of  the  catas- 
trophe, claimed  the  body  and  buried  it  in  St.  Louis.  Whether 
these  details  are  correct  or  not,  the  main  fact  is  authenticated 
by  the  authority  of  Father  Louis  S.  Muerin,  the  parish  priest  at 
Cahokia,  who  positively  declares  in  a  letter:  "  Pontiac  was 
assassinated  in  this  village  in  the  second  week  after  Easter 
[between  April  2  and  8],  1769."* 

In  person,  the  great  forest  chieftain  was  a  singularly  fine- 
looking  man.  His  complexion  was  nearly  white,  a  circumstance 
which  gave  rise  to  the  belief  that  French  blood  ran  in  his  veins. 
His  bearing  was  stern  and  resolute.  Brave,  cruel  at  times,  and 
vindictive,  he  was  shrewd  and  cunning,  and  by  his  great  ability 
exercised  almost  regal  authority  over  the  Northwestern  Indians.*f 

*  O.  W.  Collet. 

+  Authorities:  Dillon's  " Historical  Notes";  Parkman's  "Pontiac";  Cort's  "Col. 
Henry  Bouquet  and  his  Campaigns";  W.  F.  Poole  in  Winsor's  "America,"  Vol. 
VI;  Gayarre's  "History  of  Louisiana." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

The  British  Government,*  1765-1778. 

THE  obstructions  in  the  path  of  the  British,  as  narrated  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  rendered  nugatory  several  attempts 
to  assert  their  ownership  by  securing  complete  possession  of  the 
Northwest.  The  first  of  these  was  that  under  command  of 
Maj.  Arthur  Loftus,  who  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  the  Illinois 
country  from  Pensacola  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  February  27, 
1764.  With  a  force  of  four  hundred  regulars,  he  embarked  on 
the  Mississippi  and  proceeding  about  two  hundred  miles  up  the 
river,  was  fired  on  by  Indians  from  ambuscades  on  either  bank. 
Several  of  his  men  being  killed  and  wounded,  he  decided  to 
abandon  the  enterprise. 

The  next  attempt  was  made  by  Gen.  Bradstreet,  who  de- 
spatched Capt.  Thomas  Morris  of  the  Seventeenth  Regiment 
with  a  small  force,  in  August,  1764,  "to  take  possession  of  the 
Illinois  country."  It  was  altogether  a  premature  expedition. 
The  Indians,  so  far  from  proving  as  friendly  as  the  general  had 
so  unadvisedly  supposed,  treated  his  subordinate  with  great 
disrespect.  On  one  occasion  he  was  assaulted,  on  another 
threatened,  and  all  sorts  of  indignities  heaped  upon  him.  At 
Fort  Miami  he  was  seized,  stripped  of  his  clothing,  and  tied  to 
a  post,  and  with  a  mob  of  howling  savages  around  him,  des- 
paired of  his  life.  He  was  at  length  driven  out  of  the  village, 
being  only  too  glad  to  make  his  escape. 

It  was  then  determined  to  reach  Fort  Chartres  from  Fort 
Pitt,  and  Col.  George  Croghan,  deputy  superintendent  of  In- 
dian affairs,  was  sent  on  in   advance  as  an  envoy.     Some  ap- 

*  The  British  governors  of  Canada  from  1760  to  1796  were: — 1760-63,  Gen. 
Jeffrey  Amherst;  1763-66,  Gen.  James  Murray;  1766  (three  months),  Col.  Paulius 
.•Emelius  Irvine,  president  of  Executive  Council;  1766-70,  Gen.  Sir  Guy  Carleton, 
lieutenant-governor;  1770-74,  Hector  T.  Cramahe,  lieutenant-governor;  1774-78, 
Gen.  Sir  Guy  Carleton;  1778-84,  Gen.  Frederick  Haldimand,  lieutenant-governor; 
1784-85,  Col.  Henry  Hamilton,  lieutenant-governor;  1785,  Col.  Henry  Hope,  presi- 
dent of  Council;  1785-92,  Gen.  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  as  Lord  Dorchester;  1792-96, 
Gen.  John  Graves  Simcoe,  lieutenant-go\ein>r. 

131 


132  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

prehension  being  felt  lest  the  savages  might  commit  some  fresh 
outrage,  Lieut.  Alexander  Fraser,  who  was  to  accompany 
Croghan,  volunteered  to  proceed  alone.  When  the  lieutenant 
arrived  at  Kaskaskia,  he  met  with  rather  a  rough  reception. 
The  French  traders  quarrelled  with  him,  and  incited  the  In- 
dians to  take  his  life.  Pontiac  was  at  the  settlement  and  was 
plied  with  liquor  until  he  became  intoxicated,  in  the  hope  that 
he  might  be  prevailed  upon  either  to  make  the  lieutenant  pris- 
oner or  offer  him  personal  violence.  A  drunken  debauch  en- 
sued, but  Fraser  fortunately  escaped  injury.  His  position, 
however,  was  precarious,  and  he  left  Kaskaskia  in  disguise  and 
paddled  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans. 

Meanwhile,  Col.  Croghan  had  left  Fort  Pitt  on  May  15,  1765, 
accompanied  by  a  party  of  friendly  Indians.  His  progress 
was  uneventful  until  he  arrived  at  a  small  promontory  on  the 
Wabash,  where  he  disembarked.  On  June  8,  six  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  that  stream,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a 
band  of  Kickapoos,  eighty  in  number.  In  the  fight  which 
followed,  Croghan  lost  two  white  men  and  three  Indians,  while 
most  of  his  party,  including  himself,  were  wounded.  A  surren- 
der was  unavoidable,  and  the  victorious  Kickapoos  plundered 
the  entire  party.  Subsequently,  they  assured  the  British  officer 
that  it  was  "all  a  mistake,"  and  that  they  had  supposed  that 
the  Indians  accompanying  him  were  their  deadly  foes,  the 
Cherokees.  They  brought  their  prisoners  in  safety  to  Vin- 
cennes,  where  the  Indians,  many  of  whom  had  a  friendly  ac- 
quaintance with  Croghan,  strongly  condemned  the  Kickapoos, 
and  the  latter  in  turn  professed  deep  sorrow  for  what  they 
persisted  in  calling  a  blunder.  At  Ouiatanon — now  Lafayette, 
Indiana,  other  friendly  Indians  were  met.  Here  he  received  a 
message  from  St.  Ange,  cordially  inviting  him  to  proceed  to 
Fort  Chartres. 

The  Indians  were  now  submissive  and  entirely  obsequious; 
but  the  most  surprising  and  agreeable  feature  of  what  was 
beginning  to  resemble  a  triumphal  march  yet  awaited  him.  He 
had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance  on  his  way  to  the  Illinois 
country  after  receiving  the  message  from  St.  Ange  before  he 
was  met  by  a  delegation  of  chiefs  representing  various  tribes, 
and,  on  July   18,  by  the  hitherto   implacable   Pontiac   himself 


FORMAL   BRITISH    POSSESSION.  1 33 

at  the  head  of  a  large  band  of  Ottawa  braves.  There  being 
now  no  necessity  for  his  going  to  the  Illinois,  he  proceeded  to 
Detroit,  as  before  stated. 

The  way  being  no  longer  contested,  the  British  government, 
for  the  first  time  since  the  making  of  the  treaty  of  Paris,  found 
itself  in  a  position  to  take  actual  possession  of  and  assume  con- 
trol over  the  entire  country  of  the  Northwest  thereby  ceded,  of 
which  Illinois  formed  a  part. 

Capt.  Thomas  Stirling,  in  obedience  to  previous  orders,  now 
proceeded  from  Fort  Pitt  with  a  hundred  Highlanders  of  the 
Forty-second  Regiment — the  famous  "Black  Watch" — to  Fort 
Chartres  to  take  military  possession.  Descending  the  Ohio, 
he  arrived  at  his  point  of  destination  October  10,  1765.  The 
aged  St.  Ange  formally  surrendered  the  government  to  this 
British  officer.  The  lilies  of  France  were  replaced  by  the  cross 
of  St.  George,  and  with  the  disappearance  of  the  national  en- 
sign from  the  ramparts  over  which  it  had  floated  so  long,  the 
last  vestige  of  the  once  colossal  empire  of  the  French  in  North 
America  ceased  to  exist.  St.  Ange  had  grown  grey  in  honora- 
ble service.  His  first  military  command  in  the  West  was  the 
Wabash  district,  to  which  he  was  assigned  in  1736,  and  which 
he  continued  to  hold  until  1764.  After  the  formal  surrender 
of  Fort  Chartres,  the  old  soldier,  with  the  few  civil  officers  and 
troops  remaining  with  him,  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where,  at  the 
request  of  the  inhabitants,  he  continued  to  act  as  commandant. 
In  1766,  his  authority  was  confirmed  by  Gov.  Ulloa,  and  he 
remained  in  the  Spanish  service  until  his  death,  on  Dec.  27, 
1774,  aged  7^,  too  soon  to  witness  the  commencement  of  the 
struggle  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  British  power  in 
the  district  which  he  had  so  long  and  so  bravely  defended. 

The  situation  of  the  settled  portions  of  the  Illinois  country  at 
the  time  it  became  one  of  the  coveted  appendages  of  the  British 
crown  is  correctly  shown  by  the  map  on  the  following  page. 
The  five  villages  were  all  on  the  American  Bottom,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  transfer  of  proprietorship,  or  shortly  before,  con- 
tained a  white  population  not  exceeding  sixteen  hundred,  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  at  Kaskaskia,  seven  hundred;  at  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  one  hundred  and  ten;  at  St.  Philip,  one  hundred  and 
twenty;  at  New  Chartres,  two  hundred  and  twenty;  and  at 
Cahokia,  four  hundred  and  fifty. 


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PROCLAMATION   OF   GEN.  GAGE.  1 35 

When  the  proclamation  of  King  George  III  was  issued,  Oct. 
7,  1763,  providing  for  the  government  of  the  country  wrested 
from  France — dividing  it  into  four  provinces,  viz.:  Quebec,  East 
and  West  Florida,  and  Grenada — no  reference  was  made  to  the 
Northwest,  the  possession  of  which  at  that  time  was  stubbornly 
disputed  by  the  aboriginal  tribes.  But  in  regard  to  all  that  vast 
territory  the  policy  of  the  government  was  indicated  and  set 
forth  in  the  same  state  paper  as  follows:  His  Majesty  prohib- 
ited his  subjects  "  from  making  any  purchases  or  settlements 
whatsoever,  or  taking  possession  of  any  of  the  lands  beyond 
the  sources  of  any  rivers  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
from  the  west  or  northwest."  *  While  the  announcement  of 
this  policy  was  no  doubt  intended  to  placate  the  Indians,  and  to 
disabuse  their  minds  of  the  conviction  that  the  British  wanted 
their  lands,  it  was  also  clearly  intended  as  an  inhibition  against 
all  white  settlements.  All  such  were  discouraged.  Instead  of 
offering  any  inducements  for  the  colonization  of  this  splendid 
region,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  English  Board  of  Trade,  the 
government  preferred  to  confine  all  new  settlements  "within 
such  a  distance  from  the  sea-coast  as  that  they  might  be  within 
easy  reach  of  the  trade  and  commerce  of  Great  Britain." 

On  Dec.  30,  1764,  Gen.  Thomas  Gage,  commander-in-chief  of 
the  British  forces  in  North  America,  in  view  of  the  prospective 
occupation  of  the  country,  carefully  prepared  a  proclamation  in 
which  the  policy  and  intentions  of  the  government  in  regard  to 
the  French  inhabitants  were  made  known.  The  first  official  act 
of  Capt.  Stirling  was  to  "  read,  publish,  and  post "  this  impor- 
tant document,  a  synopsis  of  which  is  as  follows: 

Beginning  with  a  recital  of  the  surrender  of  the  country  to 
the  British  by  the  French,  it  proceeded  to  set  forth  that  his 
British  Majesty,  well  knowing  the  religious  faith  in  which  the 
inhabitants  had  lived,  guaranteed  to  each  the  free  and  undis- 
turbed exercise  of  religious  freedom,  according  to  the  rites  and 
teachings  of  the  Roman- Catholic  church.  That  the  French 
inhabitants  would  be  unrestrained  should  they  choose  to  return 
to  France  or  emigrate  to  any  other  country,  and  that  a  safe 
passage  to  all  such  would  be  assured.  That  they  were  at  lib- 
erty to  remove  their  personal  effects  whither  they  pleased,  and 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes, "97-8. 


136  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

to  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  their  lands,  provided  the  convey- 
ance was  made  to  British  subjects.  That  those  French  settlers 
who  preferred  to  remain  upon  their  land  and  were  willing  to 
become  loyal  subjects  of  the  British  crown  should  receive  and 
enjoy  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  regarded  person,  prop- 
erty, and  commerce,  as  native-born  subjects  of  the  king,  but 
that  in  order  to  avail  themselves  of  this  favor  they  must  take 
an  oath  of  allegiance  to  Great  Britain. 

But  the  French  inhabitants  beheld  the  surrender  of  the  coun- 
try where  they  had  dwelt  so  long  and  contentedly  to  their 
life-long  foes,  men  of  a  different  race  and  creed,  whose  habits, 
instincts,  and  tastes  were  so  different  from  their  own,  with  feel- 
ings of  distrust  and  dissatisfaction.  In  addition  to  those  who 
had  retired  the  previous  year  with  Villiers  to  New  Orleans,  others 
had  removed  to  Natchez  and  Baton  Rouge;  others  across  the 
river  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  while  quite  a  number  took  up  their  resi- 
dence at  St.  Louis,  a  trading-post  established  the  previous  year 
(1764)  by  Pierre  Laclede,  and  which  was  now  rapidly  growing 
into  a  thriving  village.  They  carried  with  them  their  property 
and  slaves,  and  as  far  as  possible  their  houses.  The  dwellers 
about  Fort  Chartres,  numbering  some  forty  families,  left  almost 
in  a  body,  less  than  half  a  dozen  remaining;*  while  those  at 
St.  Philip  all  departed  but  one  man,  the  captain  of  the  militia. 
In  this  way  it  was  estimated  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  French 
inhabitants  left  the  Illinois  country,  rather  than  become  the 
subjects  of  the  Protestant  house  of  Hanover. 

The  mixed  character  of  the  population  at  this  time  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  record  of  a  marriage  at  Prairie  du  Rocher,  in 
which  a  French  soldier  from  the  Spanish  city  of  St.  Louis,  was 
married  to  an  Englishwoman  from  Salisbury,  by  a  French  priest 
in  the  British  province  of  the  Illinois.-f- 

Capt.  Stirling,  who  had  been  temporarily  detailed  to  take 
command  of  the  fort,  was,  on  Dec.  4,  1765,  relieved  by  Maj. 
Robert  Farmer,  who  brought  with  him  from  Mobile  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Thirty-fourth  British  Foot.  The  gallant  captain 
no  doubt  took  his  leave  of  the  perplexing  questions  which  con- 
fronted him  with  no  small  satisfaction.  He  afterward  fought 
his   way  up   to   a   brigadier-generalship   in   the   Revolutionary 

*  Pittman.  f  E.  G.  Mason's  "  Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  p.  42. 


BRITISH   COMMANDANTS.  137 

War,  and  finally  died  in  England  in   1S0S,  a  baronet  and  gen- 
eral, the  highest  rank  in  the  army.* 

The  following  year,  Maj.  Farmer  was  in  turn  relieved  by  Col. 
Edward  Cole,  who  had  commanded  a  regiment  under  Gen. 
Wolfe  at  Quebec.  He  remained  in  command  during  the  years 
1766-8,  but  the  position  was  not  at  all  congenial.  He  neither 
admired  the  country  nor  appreciated  its  advantages.  His  health 
was  poor  and  the  privations  of  life  at  a  frontier  fort  increased 
his  discontent.  Accordingly,  in  1768,  he  was  relieved  at  his 
own  request."!" 

Col.  John  Reed  succeeded  Col.  Cole,  but  his  incumbency  was 
of  short  duration.  The  inhabitants  complained  that  he  was  arbi- 
trary and  despotic  in  his  government,  and  he  was  recalled  the 
same  year.  Following  him  in  September,  1768,  came  "John 
Wilkins,  Esq.,  lieutenant-colonel  of  his  majesty's  Eighteenth  or 
Royal  Regiment  of  Ireland,"  and  "commandant  throughout  the 
Illinois  country,"  as  he  describes  himself.  With  him  from  Phila- 
delphia came  seven  companies  of  his  regiment.  The  experience 
of  these  troops  was  that  common  to  all  new  comers  on  the 
American  Bottom  in  these  early  days,  few  of  whom  escaped 
malarial  diseases.  The  fatality  among  them  became  really 
alarming.  At  one  time,  out  of  five  companies,  only  a  corporal 
and  six  men  were  found  fit  for  duty.  From  Sept.  29  to  Oct.  30 
three  officers,  twenty-five  men,  and  twenty-seven  women  and 
children  died.-f" 

Apart  from  the  ever-present  Indian  problem  and  how  best  to 
regulate  intercourse  and  maintain  friendly  relations  with  the 
red  men,  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  very  much  to  occupy 
the  commandant's  attention.  Indian  affairs  were  under  the 
general  direction  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  gave  them  the 
closest  and  most  patient  consideration.  He  was  greatly  an- 
noyed by  the  efforts  of  the  French  who  had  removed  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  in  conjunction  with  those  of  the 
Spanish  government,  to  divert  the  trade  of  the  Indians  from  his 
majesty's    subjects.      Keen    intellect,    ready    tact,    and    a    firm 

*  New-York  Colonial  Docs.,  VII.,  786.  Why  the  historians  of  Illinois  and  the 
Northwest  should,  without  exception,  persist  in  killing  off  this  distinguished  officer 
at  Fort  Chartres  is  one  of  those  errors  of  history  for  which  it  is  difficult  to  account. 

t  "Historical  Magazine,"  Vol.  VIII,  260. 


138  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

hand  were  required  properly  to  adjust  these  conflicting  inter- 
ests, and  these  the  experienced  and  popular  Sir  William  pos- 
sessed. 

For  some  time  the  policy  of  discouraging  the  settlement  of 
the  Northwest  commanded  the  warm  support  of  the  British 
ministry.  Overtures  looking  toward  the  colonization  of  the 
territory,  whether  proceeding  from  would-be  corporations  or 
from  individuals,  met  with  disfavor.  The  reasons  for  the  adop- 
tion of  this  line  of  action  are  briefly  outlined  in  a  letter  from 
Gen.  Gage  to  the  earl  of  Hillsborough,  written  in  1769,  in  which 
he  says  :  "As  to  increasing  the  settlements  [northwest  of  the 
Ohio]  to  respectable  provinces,  *  I  conceive  it  altogether  in- 
consistent with  sound  policy.  *  In  the  course  of  a  few  years 
necessity  would  force  them  to  provide  manufactures  of  some 
kind  for  themselves,  and  when  all  connection  upheld  by  com- 
merce with  the  mother  country  shall  cease,  it  may  be  expected 
that  an  independency  in  her  government  will  soon  follow."  The 
governor  of  Georgia  in  a  similar  strain  wrote  to  the  British  lords 
of  trade:  "This  matter,  my  lords,  of  granting  large  bodies  of 
land  in  the  back  parts  of  any  of  his  majesty's  northern  colonies 
appears  to  me  in  a  very  serious  and  alarming  light.  If  a  vast 
territory  be  granted  to  any  set  of  gentlemen  who  really  mean  to 
people  it,  and  actually  do  so,  it  must  draw  and  carry  out  a  great 
number  of  people  from  Great  Britain,  and  I  apprehend  they  will 
soon  become  a  kind  of  separate  and  independent  people,  who  will 
set  up  for  themselves,  and  they  will  soon  have  manufactures  of 
their  own,  and  in  process  of  time  they  will  soon  become  formid- 
able enough  to  oppose  his  majesty's  authority."* 

And  thus  early  were  felt  the  premonitions  of  the  coming 
storm,  which  was  destined  to  sweep  away  the  power  of  the  king 
in  the  thirteen  colonies  of  North  America. 

But  such  were  the  demands  of  the  people  for  more  land  west 
of  the  Alleghanies  that  the  rigorous  enforcement  of  this  policy 
soon  began  to  be  relaxed.  Col.  Wiikins,  in  1769  and  after, 
made  several  grants  of  land  near  Fort  Chartres,  giving  as  a 
reason  therefor  that  "  the  cultivation  of  lands  not  then  appro- 
priated was  essentially  necessary  and  useful  toward  the  better 
peopling  and  settlement  of  the  said  country,  as  well  as  highly 

*  "Report  of  the  British  Board  of  Trade,"  27. 


THE   DUNMOKE   WAR.  1 39 

advantageous  to  his  majesty's  service  in  raising,  producing,  and 
supplying  provisions  for  his  majesty's  troops  stationed  in  the 
country  of  the  Illinois."* 

In  1774,  the  earl  of  Dunmore  (John  Murray),  the  last  British 
governor  of  Virginia,  encouraged  colonists  to  take  warrants 
from  him  for  lands  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  A  number  of  these 
*'  land  jobbers,"  as  they  were  called,  having  been  robbed  and 
killed  by  the  Indians,  as  was  alleged,  an  attack  was  made  upon 
the  latter  by  a  party  of  whites  under  one  Greathouse,  and  sev- 
eral of  them  killed.  The  war  then  followed  which  is  known  in 
history  as  the  Dunmore  War  with  the  Shawnees,  which  lasted 
from  April  to  December,  1774.  Some  severe  engagements  took 
place  between  the  contending  parties,  and  many  lives  were  lost. 
It  was  at  the  close  of  this  war,  when  propositions  for  a  treaty 
of  peace  were  being  discussed,  that  the  celebrated  Logan,  who 
had  been  a  great  sufferer  thereby,  delivered  his  eloquent  speech. 
It  appears  in  Jefferson's  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  p.  105,  ed.  1787, 
as  follows: 

"  I  appeal  to  any  white  man  to  say  if  he  ever  entered  Logan's 
cabin  hungry  and  he  gave  him  not  meat;  if  he  ever  came  cold 
and  naked  and  he  clothed  him  not.  During  the  course  of  the 
last  long  and  bloody  war,  Logan  remained  idle  in  his  cabin,  an 
advocate  for  peace.  Such  was  my  love  for  the  whites  that  my 
countrymen  pointed  as  they  passed  and  said:  'Logan  is  the 
friend  of  the  white  man.'  Col.  Cresap  the  last  spring,  in  cold 
blood  and  unprovoked,  murdered  all  the  relations  of  Logan,  not 
even  sparing  my  women  and  children.  There  runs  not  a  drop 
of  my  blood  in  the  veins  of  any  living  creature.  This  called  on 
me  for  revenge.  I  have  sought  it;  I  have  killed  many;  I  have 
glutted  my  vengeance.  For  my  country  I  rejoice  at  the  beams 
of  peace.  But  do  not  harbor  a  thought  that  mine  is  the  joy  of 
fear;  Logan  never  felt  fear;  he  will  not  turn  on  his  heel  to  save 
his  life.     Who  is  there  to  mourn  for  Logan  ?     Not  one."-f* 

On  July  5,  1773,  the  Illinois  Land  Company,  at  Kaskaskia, 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  116. 

+  Capt.  Michael  Cresap  (his  father,  Col.  Thomas  Cresap,  was  not  in  that  part 
of  the  country  at  the  time)  was  in  no  way  responsible  for  the  killing  of  Logan's 
relatives.  The  subject  is  fully  treated  by  W.  F.  Poole  in  Winsor's  "America," 
VI,  p.  712. 


140  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

obtained  from  ten  chiefs  of  the  Kaskaskia,  Peoria,  and  other 
tribes  a  deed  for  two  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  Illinois.  In 
1775,  the  Wabash  Land  Company  purchased  from  the  Pianka- 
shavvs  at  Vincennes  lands  amounting  to  thirty-seven  million, 
four  hundred  and  ninety-seven  thousand,  six  hundred  acres. 
These  two  companies  were  afterward  consolidated,  and  after 
the  country  passed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
repeated  efforts  were  made  to  secure  a  confirmation  of  these 
grants  from  Congress,  but  without  avail.  In  this  year,  Gov. 
Dunmore,  on  what  authority  does  not  appear,  ordered  the  sur- 
vey of  the  vacant  land  in  Virginia,  in  lots  of  from  one  hun- 
dred to  one  thousand  acres,  and  that  it  be  put  up  for  sale. 

The  French  subjects  of  Great  Britain  who  had  remained  in 
the  Illinois  early  exhibited  a  disposition  to  become  troublesome, 
and  as  a  panacea  for  all  civil  ills,  Gen.  Gage  instructed  Col. 
Wilkins  to  establish  a  court  of  common-law  jurisdiction  at  Fort 
Chartres,  with  a  bench  of  seven  judges — the  first  British  court 
vest  of  the  Alleghanies.  Instead  of  appeasing,  this  move  in- 
creased, the  discontent  of  the  French;  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  it  was  an  injudicious  step  to  compel  a  people  to  settle  their 
disputes  by  common-law  proceedings  whose  only  knowledge  of 
jurisprudence  was  confined  to  a  limited  acquaintance  with  the 
civil  law.  Their  opposition,  especially  to  that  bulwark  of  Brit- 
ish freedom,  trial  by  jury,  was  insuperable.  It  was  repugnant 
to  all  their  ideas  of  justice  that  the  rights  of  persons  and  prop- 
erty should  be  safer  in  the  hands  of  a  panel  of  "  miscellaneous 
tailors  and  shoemakers"  than  in  those  of  erudite  and  dispassion- 
ate judges.     They  wanted  none  of  it. 

Among  their  other  causes  of  complaint  was  a  proclamation 
of  Gen.  Gage,  directing  the  departure  of  settlers  on  the  Wabash 
and  at  other  places  who  were  holding  under  grants  from  Jean 
Baptiste  Racine,  otherwise  known  as  St.  Marie,  commandant  at 
Vincennes.  The  inhabitants  claimed  under  old  French  conces- 
sions, although  many  new  ones,  to  small  tracts  around  Vin- 
cennes and  Ouiatanon,  had  been  made. 

The  government  of  the  Illinois  country  indeed  was  a  subject 
of  embarrassing  consideration  in  the  British  cabinet  for  several 
years.*     Petitions  were  sent  to  the  king  setting  forth  the  griev- 

*  Canadian  Archives. 


ILLINOIS   ATTACHED   TO   QUEBEC.  141 

ances  of  the  inhabitants,  and  delegations  were  also  despatched 
to  the  colonial  governor  of  Canada,  praying  to  be  attached  to 
the  province  of  Quebec,*  for  governmental  purposes. 

The  growing  disaffection  of  the  American  colonists  to  the 
British  government,  which  was  by  this  time  becoming  apparent, 
decided  parliament,  with  a  view  to  the  conciliation  of  the  French 
inhabitants  of  Canada,  June  2,  1774,  to  pass  an  act  enlarging 
the  province  of  Quebec  so  as  to  include  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory.-f  This  act  also  confirmed  to  the  French  inhabitants  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion  and  restored  to  them  their  ancient 
laws  in  civil  cases  without  trial  by  jury.  The  passage  of  this 
act  by  parliament,  while  it  had  the  desired  effect  upon  the  French 
in  attaching  them  to  British  interests,  exerted  a  diametrically 
opposite  influence  upon  the  British  inhabitants  of  the  old  thir- 
teen colonies.  They  denounced  it  in  their  conventions  and 
through  their  press,  characterizing  it  as  "  the  very  extraordinary 
and  alarming  act  for  establishing  the  Roman-Catholic  religion 
and  French  laws  in  Canada."  It  was  cited  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  Revolution — a  result 
foreseen  by  Lord  Chatham,  Edmund  Burke,  and  Charles  Fox, 
who  opposed  the  passage  of  the  law.| 

The  administration  of  Lieut.-Col.  Wilkins  in  the  Illinois  coun- 
try proved  unpopular.  Grave  charges  were  preferred  against 
him,  including  misappropriations  of  the  public  funds — of  which 
he  demanded  investigation,  claiming  that  he  was  able  to  justify 
his  conduct.  He  was  superseded  in  September,  1771,  and 
sailed  for  Europe  in  July,  1772. 

The  data  for  the  details  of  events  in  the  Illinois  country  from 
1 77 1  to  1778  are  locked  up  in  the  Haldimand  and  other  papers 
on  file  among  the  archives  of  Canada,  only  brief  extracts  from 
which  have  been  published.§  From  these  documents  it  appears 
that  Capt.  Hugh  Lord  of  the  Eighteenth  Regiment  became 
commandant  after  Col.  Wilkins,  and   so  continued   until   1775. 

*  American  Archives,  I,  1 86  et  seq. 

t  Perhaps,  also,  the  British  ministry,  foreseeing  the  coming  storm  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  its  possible  results,  was  influenced  by  a  desire  to  secure  this  portion 
of  unoccupied  territory  for  the  British  crown.  See  W.  F.  Poole  in  Winsor's 
"America,"  Vol.  VI,  715. 

%  W.  F.  Poole,  in  Winsor's  "America,"  Vol.  VI.,  p.  714. 

§  A  calendar  of  these  papers  has  been  prepared  by  Douglas  Brymner. 


142  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

In  1772,  one  of  the  periodic  floods  incident  to  the  Mississippi 
overflowed  the  American  Bottom  and  swept  away  two  bastions 
and  part  of  the  main  walls  of  Fort  Chartres.*  The  post  being 
thus  rendered  untenable,  the  headquarters  of  the  commandant 
were  ordered  to  be  removed  to  Kaskaskia. 

Fort  Chartres  was  never  again  occupied  or  used  except  as  a 
resting-place  for  wandering  traders  or  predatory  bands  of  sav- 
ages. Its  walls  were  utilized  in  other  structures  in  the  vicinity, 
and  that  portion  of  its  armament  which  was  not  at  that  time 
removed  to  Kaskaskia  was  afterward  probably  taken  to  Fort 
Jefferson,  and  some  of  the  old  British  cannon  were  used  against 
their  former  owners  during  the  War  of  18 12.  It  gradually  fell 
into  decay,  until  today  scarcely  a  foot-path  leads  to  the  spot 
where  its  ancient  foundations  may  yet  be  seen.  The  expense 
of  its  construction  was  enormous;  its  utility  was  never  demon- 
strated; as  a  protection  against  the  incursions  of  either  the 
Indians  or  Spaniards,  it  proved  practically  valueless. 

In  a  letter  of  Gov.  Haldimand  of  July  8,  178 1,  it  appears  that 
Capt.  Matthew  Johnson  received  £1200  salary  for  six  years' 
service  as  "lieutenant-commandant  of  the  Illinois,"  from  May, 
1775,  to  May  1 78 1.  But  as  to  where  that  officer  was  stationed 
or  what  duties  he  performed,  other  than  to  draw  his  pay,  the 
reader  must  at  present  be  left  in  the  dark. 

In  another  later  letter  from  the  governor,  Capt.  Sinclair  of 
Mackinac  is  designated  as  "lieutenant-governor  of  the  Illinois," 
and  it  is  probable  that  that  district  was  for  a  time  attached  to 
his  command.  It  is  clear,  however,  from  these  papers  that  Phillip 
Francois  de  Rastel,  Chevalier  de  Rocheblave  was  in  command 
at  Kaskaskia  as  early  as  October,  1776,  and  that  his  conduct 
there  was  approved  by  Sir  Guy  Carleton.  He  had  been  an 
officer  in  the  French  army,  and  had  resided  at  Kaskaskia  a 
number  of  years,  having  been  married  there,  as  appears  by  the 
old  parish  records,  April  11,  1763.  With  the  transfer  of  the 
country  to  the  British  he  had  transferred  his  allegiance,  and 
had  been  promoted  as  above  stated.  It  appears  that  in  1766 
he  was  in  command  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  where  he  became  in- 
volved in  serious  financial  difficulties. 

He  was  evidently  a  faithful  and  intelligent,  although  a  com- 

*  Beck's  "Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,"  108. 


EXPLOITS   OF   CAPT.  WILLING.  143. 

plaining  and  captious,  officer.  The  few  settlers  of  British  birth, 
gave  him  more  trouble  than  the  French.  Their  leaning  toward 
the  American  cause  was  a  source  of  much  annoyance.  The 
number  of  regular  troops  comprising  his  garrison  had  been 
reduced  until,  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  last  detachment,  he 
was  forced  to  depend  for  the  safety  of  his  position  entirely 
upon  the  loyalty  of  the  militia.  His  repeated  demands  for 
funds  to  meet  repairs  and  current  expenses  had  not  been  hon- 
ored. He  had  kept  on  good  terms  with  the  Indians,  but  was- 
fearful  of  forays  from  the  Spaniards,  and  of  an  attack  from  one- 
Willing,  whose  depredations  on  the  Mississippi  gave  him  much 
concern. 

James  Willing  of  Philadelphia,  a  young  man  of  good  connec- 
tions but  of  extravagant  tastes  and  dissolute  habits,  having 
exhausted  his  means,  applied  for  and  obtained  a  commission  in 
the  American  army,  and  was  ordered  West  to  watch  the  British, 
to  conciliate  settlers,  and  enlist  recruits.  His  good  address 
and  persuasive  eloquence  enabled  him  in  a  short  time  to  raise  a. 
force  of  over  a  hundred  men.  At  Manchac,  below  Natchez,  he 
managed  to  make  himself  master  of  a  British  armed  vessel  with 
which  he  proceeded  to  New  Orleans.  He  here  sold  his  vessel 
and  with  the  proceeds  entered  upon  a  career  of  debauchery  and 
crime  which  made  him  notorious.  Having  squandered  the  means 
thus  obtained,  he  organized  a  fresh  force  of  kindred  spirits  and 
returned  to  Manchac,  where,  taking  possession  of  the  post,  he 
plundered  the  people  indiscriminately.  Thence  he  proceeded 
up  the  river,  freebooting  and  alarming  the  settlers.  As  may  be 
well  supposed,  his  name  became  a  terror  to  both  loyalists  and 
patriots,  who  finally  organized  a  force  and  drove  him  and  his 
band  out  of  the  country.*  Such,  at  least,  is  the  story  told  of 
and  the  character  given  to  Capt.  Willing  by  those  who  claim 
to  have  suffered  at  his  hands;  on  the  other  hand,  Girardin,  in 
his  "History  of  Virginia,"-f-  refers  to  his  expedition  as  laudable, 
and  claims  that  the  charges  of  cruelty  and  excesses  brought 
against  him  were  not  justified  by  the  facts. 

Rocheblave  was  a  good  correspondent,  and  kept  the  author- 
ities at  Quebec  well  advised  of  what  was  going  on  in  his  district. 
He  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  the  presence  of  regular  troops 

*  Memoirs  of  Capt.  Phelps,  1802.  f  Vol.  IV,  p.  357. 


144  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  complained  of  his  want  of  means,  of  his  "constant  worries," 
and  requested  to  be  relieved 'by  "some  Englishman." 

It  is  evident  that  with  the  opening  guns  of  the  Revolution  so 
many  demands  were  being  made  upon  the  Canadian  governor's 
time  and  resources  from  what  were  considered  more  important 
localities  that  but  little  attention  was  given  to  Illinois  affairs; 
and,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  next  chapter,  taking  advantage  of 
this  neglect,  the  Americans,  through  a  brilliant  strategic  move- 
ment, were  enabled  to  deal  one  of  the  most  effective  and  im- 
portant blows  of  the  war. 

Authorities:  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes";  New-York  Colonial  Documents; 
Parkman's  "Pontiac";  Capt.  Pittman's  "Settlements  on  the  Mississippi,  1771"; 
"Magazine  of  Western  History, "  and  Articles  therein  by  O.  W.  Collet;  Billon's 
"Annals  of  St.  Louis";  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  by  Edw.  G.  Mason; 
"Canadian  Archives";  HaswelPs  " Memoirs  of  Capt.  Phelps";  W.  F.  Poole  in  Win- 
sor's  "America, "  Vol.  VI;  Beck's  "Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri." 


Period  III. — Under  Virginia,  1778-1784. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


Illinois  in  the  Revolution — Its  Reduction  by  Virginia  under 
Col.  Clark — Capture  of  Vincennes — Indian  Treaties. 

THE  issue  of  the  French-and- Indian  War  gave  to  Great 
Britain  a  prestige  greater  than  that  country  had  ever 
enjoyed.  Her  victories  on  both  land  and  sea  had  been  un- 
precedented, and  the  addition  of  Canada  and  that  portion 
of  Louisiana  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  her  colo- 
nial domain,  already  imperial  in  the  grandeur  of  its  extent, 
formed  a  fitting  climax  to  a  long  line  of  splendid  achieve- 
ments. But  the  settlement  of  America  had  come  to  have  a 
broader  significance  than  the  mere  establishment  of  new  marts  of 
trade  or  the  opening  of  new  channels  of  commerce.  The  discon- 
tented emigrants  from  the  overcrowded  British  Isles  found  in  the 
newly-acquired  territory  opportunities  for  advancement  which 
had  been  denied  them  at  home,  and  the  rapid  accumulation  of 
population  soon  brought  about  an  aggregation  of  interests,  so- 
cial and  political,  distinctive  and  peculiar  to  the  colonies.  The 
home  government  soon  perceived  this  fact,  and  the  problem  how 
best  to  adjust  the  relations  between  the  mother  country  and  the 
growing  colonies  became  of  such  vital  importance  and  absorbing 
interest  as  to  overshadow  all  other  questions. 

The  settlers  of  North  America  were  men  of  rugged  inde- 
pendence and  firm  believers  in  the  right  of  free-deliberation 
and  free-speech;  and  the  arbitrary  policy  of  the  home  ministry 
awakened  the  most  determined  opposition.  The  assertion  of 
the  right  of  taxation  without  representation,  the  enforcement 
of  the  navigation  act,  the  adoption  of  the  stamp-tax  act  by  the 
British  parliament,  were  firmly  and  defiantly  resisted.  Accu- 
mulated oppressions  compelled,  as  a  necessary  defensive  meas- 
ure, the  formation  of  the  thirteen  colonies  into  the  American 
Union,  and  the  creation  of  the  Continental  Congress.  Follow- 
ing this  came  the  vote  to  raise  troops,  provide  means  of  defense, 
10  145 


146  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  July  4,  1776,  and  the  War 
of  the  Revolution. 

The  French  settlers  composing  the  great  body  of  the  inhabit- 
ants in  Illinois,  at  the  outbreak  of:  the  war,  as  before  stated, 
were  inclined  to  sympathize  with  the  British.  They  were  re- 
quired, however,  as  a  precautionary  step,  to  renew  their  oath  of 
allegiance  to  King  George,*  which  they  willingly  consented  to 
do.  At  the  same  time  envoys  were  sent  among  them  to  incite 
acts  of  hostilities  toward  their  neighbors — the  Revolutionists — 
on  the  frontiers;  and  especially  to  encourage  and  aid  the  abo- 
rigines in  making  depredatory  incursions  against  settlements 
friendly  to  the  American  cause.  The  striking  difference  be- 
tween the  respective  policies  of  the  British  and  American  au- 
thorities in  regard  to  the  Indians  was  well  illustrated  in  the 
rewards  offered  to  secure  their  cooperation — those  of  the  Brit- 
ish being  for  scalps,  seldom  for  prisoners;  while  Congress  offered 
rewards  for  prisoners,  but  never  for  scalps.  The  early  years  of 
the  war,  however,  did  not  materially  affect  the  villages  of  Illi- 
nois. Their  remoteness  from  the  scenes  of  active  operations 
insured  for  them  comparative  tranquility. 

In  the  second  year  of  the  Revolution  the  attention  of  Virginia 
was  drawn  to  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  which  was  claimed  to 
be  within  the  limits  of  that  commonwealth  by  virtue  of  ancient 
charters.  The  attacks  of  the  Indians  had  become  so  frequent 
and  been  so  successful  as  to  cause  serious  alarm;  but  such  had 
been  the  demands  of  the  Confederation  upon  her  for  men  and 
means  that  she  had  not  been  able  to  extend  to  her  hardy 
backwoods  settlers  the  aid  which  they  so  much  needed.  The 
British  commandants  at  Vincennes  and  Kaskaskia,  while  unable 
to  furnish  men  to  aid  the  savage  marauders  whose  midnight 
depredations  had  struck  terror  to  the  scattered  settlements  in 
Kentucky,  could  and  did  aid  them  with  supplies  and  munitions 
of  war. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  far-seeing  eye  of  Col.  George  Rogers 
Clark,  then  in  the  vigor  of  early  manhood,  to  discover  the  sit- 
uation of  affairs,  and  for  his  sagacity  and  valor  to  apply  the 
remedy.  Born  in  Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  Nov.  19,  1752, 
and  already  a  leading  spirit  in  the  councils  of  his  native  State, 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  124. 


CONQUEST   OF   ILLINOIS.  147 

"he  had  made  himself  familiar  with  the  relations  and  con- 
d-'tions,  the  needs  and  resources  of  the  West.  With  that  intui- 
tive genius  which  stamps  him  as  the  most  brilliant  commander 
of  all  those  who  obtained  distinction  in  border  warfare,"  he 
was  quick  to  perceive  the  policy  required,  which  was:  to  trans- 
fer the  line  of  defense  and  the  battle-field  from  the  settlements 
in  Kentucky  County  to  the  territory  which  formed  the  enemy's 
base  of  supplies;  to  arouse  sentiments  of  friendship  among,  or 
at  least  conciliate  the  opposition  of,  the  French  inhabitants 
of  the  Northwest;  to  neutralize  the  hostility  of  the  savages 
if  possible  by  demonstrating  to  them  the  justice  of  the  Ameri- 
can cause;  and  to  accomplish  what  in  every  war  is  considered 
one  of  the  greatest  strategic  successes — to  turn  the  enemy's 
guns  against  himself. 

To  confirm  his  views,  he  sent,  in  1777,  to  Kaskaskia  two 
trusted  spies,  one  of  whom  was  James  Moore,  afterward  a  dis- 
tinguished pioneer  settler.  From  their  report  he  learned  that 
while  the  commandant  lost  no  opportunity  to  incite  Indian 
hostilities,  the  French  inhabitants  were  not  disposed  to  incur 
any  great  risks  for  the  British  crown,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  they  had  been  made  to  believe  appalling  reports  of  the 
ferocity  of  "the  big-knives,"  as  the  Americans  were  called. 
He  was  also  made  aware  of  the  fact  that  while  the  militia  was 
maintained  in  good  order,  rather  from  a  fondness  of  display 
than  from  any  desire  to  engage  in  active  war  or  because  they 
expected  an  attack,  the  fort  was  generally  kept  merely  "  as  an 
asylum." 

In  December,  1777,  Col.  Clark  submitted  to  Gov.  Patrick 
Henry  of  Virginia,  a  plan  for  the  reduction  of  the  posts  in  Illi- 
nois, which,  after  some  discussion,  was  approved;  and  on  Jan.  2, 
he  received  authority  to  recruit,  for  three  months'  service,  seven 
companies  of  fifty  men  each,  which  he  was  to  command.  Six 
thousand  dollars  were  given  him  to  defray  expenses.  Proceed- 
ing to  Pittsburg,  on  Feb.  4,  he  succeeded,  after  extraordinary 
exertions,  in  raising  three  companies,  who  rendezvoused  at 
Corn  Island,  a  point  nearly  opposite  the  present  city  of  Louis- 
ville.*    Here  Lieut.  Hutchings,  with  a  portion  of  one  company, 

*  Several  families  who  had  accompanied  Col.  Clark's  party  were  left  on  the 
island  after  his  departure,  and,  removing  to  the  mainland,  laid  out  the  town  of 
Louisville  in  1780. 


148  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL    AND    STATISTICAL. 

deserted,  but  enough  were  retaken  to  form,  with  additional  vol- 
unteers, a  fourth  company. 

The  four  companies  were  led  by  captains  Joseph  Bowman, 
John  Montgomery,  Leonard  Helm,  and  William  Harrod,  and 
their  numbers  have  been  variously  estimated  at  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  men. 

On  June  24,  1778,  Col.  Clark  set  forth,  and  as  his  party  de- 
scended the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  the  sun  became  totally  eclipsed, 
which  not  only  fixes  the  date,  but  might  also  have  been  re- 
garded as  an  omen  of  the  eclipse  of  British  authority  in  the 
Illinois  country,  which  the  courageous  determination  of  the 
devoted  colonel  and  his  men  was  soon  to  effect.  With  keel- 
boats  with  double-manned  oars,  rowing  night  and  day,  on  June 
28,  he  reached  an  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
where  he  landed.  Here  he  fortunately  met  with  a  party  of 
eight  American  hunters,  under  the  leadership  of  John  Duff,  who 
had  left  Kaskaskia  but  a  few  days  previously.  They  not  only 
gave  him  all  necessary  information,  but  cheerfully  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  and  joined  his  expedition.  Although  the 
colonel  says  "their  intelligence  was  not  favorable,"  they  ren- 
dered valuable  service,  one  of  them,  John  Saunders,  acting  as 
guide. 

On  this  same  evening  he  ran  his  boats  into  a  small  creek, 
about  one  mile  above  Fort  Massac*  Here  he  disembarked 
his  command,  and  on  the  next  day,  without  horses,  wagons, 
baggage,  or  artillery,  he  began  his  march  across  the  country. 

Kaskaskia,  the  objective  point,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  away  and  the  hitherto  untrodden  route  lay  through  wil- 
derness and  swamp.  The  guide,  Saunders,  becoming  confused, 
lost  his  way,  and  being  suspected  of  bad  faith  was  threatened 
with  death.  Happily,  however,  he  soon  recognized  a  familiar 
spot,  thus  restoring  confidence  in  his  own  fidelity  and  securing 
the  safety  of  the  party.  After  a  wearisome  march  of  six  days, 
with  only  four  days'  provisions,  the  command  arrived  within 
three  miles  of  Kaskaskia  on  the  evening  of  July  4.     On  this  very 

'  Erected  by  Lieut.  Massac  in  October,  1758,  after  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Duquesne  by  the  French — the  last  fort  built  by  the  French  in  the  Western  country. 
— Monette's  "Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  I,  317.  This  statement  and  the  name  of 
such  an  officer  has  not  been  verified.  It  is  more  probable  that  the  fort  was  named 
after  Mr.  de  Massiac,  the  French  minister  of  marine  at  this  time. 


CONQUEST    OF   ILLINOIS.  149 

c'-ty,  Rocheblave,  the  commander  of  the  post,  all  unconscious 
of  the  impending  danger,  was  pouring  forth  the  vexations  of 
his  soul  in  a  pathetic  appeal  to  Gen.  Haldimand,  governor  of 
Canada.  He  depicted  the  discouragements  of  settlers,  the  dis- 
loyal conduct  of  those  of  British  birth — enlarged  upon  the 
urgency  of  the  need  for  troops,  the  jealousies  of  the  inhabitants, 
Spanish  encroachments,  and  expatiated  upon  the  "brigandage" 
of  Capt.  Willing  upon  the  Mississippi,  fearing  lest  the  latter 
might  surprise  and  capture  a  position  regarded  as  of  great  im- 
portance.* Col.  Clark  had  indeed  laid  his  plans  with  such 
adroitness  and  executed  them  with  such  skill  that  the  appre- 
hensions of  Rocheblave  were  concentrated  upon  a  remote  peril 
rather  than  upon  the  one  which  was  at  his  door. 

As  soon  as  he  could  trust  to  darkness  to  hide  his  manoeuvres 
from  sight,  Col.  Clark  led  his  command  to  the  ferry-house  on 
the  Kaskaskia  River,  about  a  mile  above  the  town,  and  made 
prisoners  of  the  keeper  and  his  family.  "  Finding,"  to  use  his 
own  language,  "plenty  of  boats  to  cross  in  in  two  hours,  we 
transported  ourselves  to  the  other  shore  with  the  greatest 
silence.  *  *  I  immediately  divided  my  little  army  into  two 
divisions.  *  Ordering  one  to  surround  the  town,  with  the  other 
I  broke  into  the  fort,  secured  the  governor,  Mr.  Rocheblave;  in 
fifteen  minutes  had  every  street  secured,  sent  runners  through 
the  town  ordering  the  people  on  pain  of  death  to  keep  close  to 
their  houses,  which  they  observed,  and  before  daylight  had  the 
whole  town  disarmed."  Capt.  Helm  commanded  the  town 
party,  and  the  celebrated  Simon  Kenton  led  the  way  to  the  fort, 
into  which  he  was  conducted  by  a  friendly  American  who  was 
there  ready  for  this  service.-f"  The  commandant  was  found 
peacefully  sleeping  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  and  the  success  of 
the  expedition  was  attained  without  the  firing  of  a  gun  "  or  the 
shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood." 

Fort  Gage,  according  to  local  traditions,  was  built  in  1736,  on 
the  bluff  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Kaskaskia  River  from  the 
town,  as  a  protection  against  the  Chickasaws  and  other  hostile 
Indians  at  that  time  at  war  with  the  French.  In  1756,  during 
the  French-and-Indian  War,  it  was  repaired  and  occupied  by  a 

*  Brymner's  "Report  of  Canadian  Archives,"  1881,  p.  15. 
t  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  2d  ed.,  p.  95. 


150  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

French  garrison.  Its  shape  is  described  by  Capt.  Pittman  as 
that  of  an  oblong  quadrangle,  and  its  dimensions  are  given  as 
two  hundred  and  ninety  by  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet.  It 
was  constructed  of  thick,  square  timbers,  and  within  its  walls 
were  a  stone  magazine,  the  commandant's  house,  and  other 
small  buildings.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1766,  and  there  is 
no  evidence  that  it  was  ever  rebuilt  or  reoccupied. 

Following  the  histories  of  the  State,  until  within  the  past 
year  it  has  been  generally  supposed  that  the  fort  thus  taken 
by  Col.  Clark  was  that  known  as  the  Fort  Gage  above  spoken 
of.  The  publication  of  later  information,  throwing  a  clearer 
light  on  the  important  events  of  this  period,  shows  that  such  a 
supposition  is  erroneous.  The  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres, 
when  it  was  abandoned  in  1772,  was  ordered  to  station  his 
troops  at  Kaskaskia.  In  a  letter  from  Capt.  Lord,  bearing 
date  April  10,  1772,  he  says  that  Fort  Gage  was  to  be  the  ren- 
dezvous in  case  of  war.  And  in  a  letter  of  August  30,  1773, 
from  Gov.  Haldimand  addressed  to  the  commandant  "at  Fort 
Gage,"  he  directs  that  the  fort  should  be  "well  provisioned." 
But  the  fort  here  referred  to  as  Fort  Gage  was  evidently 
on  the  town  side  of  the  Kaskaskia  River.  In  neither  of  the 
accounts  given  of  the  capture  by  Col.  Clark  does  he  mention 
the  name  of  the  fort  taken  by  him.  Neither  has  he  stated 
that  he  divided  his  troops  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river.  To 
have  crossed  the  stream  with  his  entire  force  and  then  ordered 
a  portion  to  recross  in  order  to  march  up  the  hill  on  whose 
summit  Fort  Gage  was  situated  would  have  been  a  waste  of 
time  and  an  altogether  indefensible  military  movement.  In 
the  preceding  February,  Rocheblave,  in  a  letter  to  Gen.  Guy 
Carlton,  states  that  "the  roof  of  the  mansion  of  the  fort  is  of 
shingles  and  very  leaky,  notwithstanding  my  efforts  to  patch  it, 
and  unless  a  new  roof  be  provided  very  soon,  the  building, 
which  was  constructed  twenty-five  years  ago  and  cost  the  Jes- 
uits forty  thousand  piasters,  will  be  ruined."  "  The  building 
referred  to,  situated  in  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  town 
near  the  river,  was  the  old  "Jesuit  House,"  as  Pittman  calls  it, 
which  had  been  substantially  constructed  of  stone,  and  the 
probability  is,  that  as  the  old  fort  had  not  been  repaired  and 

*  Brymner's  "Report  of  Canadian  Archives,"  1882,  p.  12. 


FORT   GAGE.  15  I 

the  garrison  at  the  time  of  its  transfer  to  Kaskaskia  was  small, 
it  was  decided  to  convert  the  old  Jesuit  residence  temporarily 
into  a  fort. 

As  confirmatory  evidence  that  the  fort  taken  by  Col.  Clark 
was  this  old  Jesuit  mansion,  the  following  letter  to  Gov.  Fred- 
erick Haldimand  of  date  June  27,  1779,  from  Maj.  A.  S.  De 
Peyster,  commandant  of  Mackinac,  who  was  directly  interested 
in  procuring  accurate  information,  would  seem  to  be  conclusive. 
He  says:  "  The  Kaskaskia  is  no  ways  fortified.  The  fort  being 
still  a  sorry  pinchetted  [picketed?]  enclosure  around  the  Jesuit 
college,  with  two  plank-houses  at  opposite  angles,  mounting 
two  four-pounders,  each  on  the  ground  floor,  and  a  few  swivels 
mounted  in  pidgeen  [pigeon]  houses."* 

There  is  no  evidence,  indeed,  that  Col.  Clark  ever  occupied 
the  old  fort  on  the  hill;  but  on  the  contrary,  soon  after  the 
capture  by  him  of  the  structure  then  occupied  as  a  fort,  while 
making  preparations  to  repel  a  threatened  attack,  he  says:  "I 
resolved  to  burn  a  part  of  the  town  that  was  near  the  fort,  and 
guard  it,  as  I  knew  the  greatest  service  we  possibly  could  do 
was  to  sell  the  fort  as  dear  as  possible."f  From  the  journals  of 
both  Col.  Clark  and  Capt.  Bowman  it  appears  that  when  the 
former's  force  afterward  started  for  Vincennes,  it  crossed  the 
Kaskaskia  River,  which  would  not  have  been  necessary  had  the 
men  occupied  the  fort  on  the  eastern  bluff. % 

Having  thus  far  succeeded  in  his  plans,  Col.  Clark  next  took 
measures  to  conciliate  the  inhabitants.  In  order  to  insure  their 
more  complete  submission,  he  at  first  confirmed  by  his  conduct 
and  demeanor,  as  well  as  that  of  his  men,  the  reports  they  had 
heard  of  the  daring  and  ferocity  of  the  "big-knives."  Surprised 
and  affrighted  by  the  offensive  bearing  of  the  soldiery,  they  were 
soon  driven,  trembling  for  their  lives,  to  their  houses.  Some  of 
the  leading  citizens  were  arbitrarily  arrested,  and  no  one  was 
permitted  to  leave  the  town.  Having,  in  accordance  with  their 
request,  on  the  following  morning  permitted  the  inhabitants  to 

*  Michigan  "Pioneer  Collections,"  Vol.  IX,  p.  388. 

t  "Ckrk's  Campaign  in  Illinois,"  p.  57. 

%  These  new  facts  concerning  the  location  of  the  fort  captured  by  Col.  Clark 
were  first  brought  to  light  by  W.  F.  Poole,  in  his  chapter  on  "The  West,"  in 
Winsor's  "America,"  VI,  719,  720. 


152  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

assemble  for  public  worship,  he  took  occasion  to  explain  to 
them  the  causes  of  the  Revolution,  and  following  the  instruc- 
tions of  Gov.  Henry,  informed  them  "that  although  they  were 
a  conquered  people,  and  as  such  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
conqueror,  nevertheless  the  policy,  no  less  than  the  desire,  of 
the  American  government  was  to  make  them  free;  and  that  if 
he  could  have  surety  of  their  zeal  and  attachment  to  the  Amer- 
ican cause  they  should  immediately  enjoy  all  the  privileges 
of  government  and  their  property  be  secured  to  them."  He 
further  said  that  while  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  churches 
except  to  protect  them  from  insult,  religious  liberty  should 
not  be  interfered  with.  They  were  also  informed  that  the 
king  of  France  had  united  his  armies  with  those  of  the 
Americans,  and  that  the  two  peoples  were  making  common 
cause  against  the  British ;  but  that  they  were  at  liberty  to  es- 
pouse whichever  side  in  the  great  conflict  they  preferred ;  that 
if  they  decided  to  go  with  the  Americans  they  must  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance. 

The  revulsion  of  feeling  which  followed  the  colonel's  speech 
was  highly  complimentary  to  his  eloquence.  Unbounded  dem- 
onstrations of  joyful  approval  greeted  his  address,  and  the  in- 
habitants at  once  avowed  their  readiness  to  take  the  required 
oath  and  become  American  citizens.  The  colonel  was  disposed 
also  to  deal  leniently  with  Rocheblave,  and  invited  him  to 
dine  with  him;  but  instead  of  meeting  his  courtesies  half-way 
and  making  the  best  of  his  misfortunes,  the  disgruntled  Franco- 
British  officer  became  violent  and  insulting.  To  such  a  length 
did  he  carry  his  insolence  that  the  colonel  felt  compelled  to 
place  him  in  irons,  and  soon  after  sent  him  to  Williamsburg  as 
a  prisoner  of  war.  In  1780,  breaking  his  parole,  he  made  his 
way  to  New  York,  where,  in  1 781,  he  applied  for  a  command 
and  authority  to  recapture  the  Illinois  posts.  His  slaves  were 
confiscated  and  sold,  the  proceeds,  amounting  to  five  hundred 
pounds,  being  distributed  among  the  troops  of  Col.  Clark.* 

The  good  work  having  been  so  successfully  inaugurated  at 
Kaskaskia,  Capt.  Bowman,  with  his  company,  was  despatched 
to  take  possession  of  Cahokia.  A  number  of  the  now  friendly 
inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia  accompanied   the  expedition  to  use 

*  "Clark's  Campaign  in  Illinois,"  37. 


INDIAN    TREATIES   CONCLUDED.  1 53 

their  influence  to  induce  a  like  result  at  that  point.  There  was 
a  stockade  fort  at  Cahokia,  but  it  was  not  garrisoned,  and  no 
resistance  whatever  was  made  to  the  entrance  of  Capt.  Bowman 
into  the  town.  On  learning  what  had  occurred  at  Kaskaskia, 
the  inhabitants  here  also  readily  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Virginia.  Many  of  the  French,  as  a  further  pledge  of  their 
fealty  to  the  new  government,  volunteered  to  enter  the  depleted 
ranks  of  the  Virginia  companies,  and  afterward  did  good  ser- 
vice under  Col.  Clark. 

"  Domestic  affairs,"  says  the  colonel,  "  being  thus  pretty  well 
settled,  the  Indian  department  came  next  to  be  the  object  of 
my  attention."  This,  indeed,  was  the  most  delicate  and  difficult 
portion  of  his  task.  To  win  the  friendship,  or  at  least  secure 
the  neutrality  of  the  Indians  was  one  of  the  primary  objects  of 
the  campaign.  The  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  Sacs, 
Foxes — in  a  word,  nearly  all  the  leading  tribes  of  the  West — 
were  represented  in  the  repeated  conferences  held  between  Col. 
Clark  and  the  savages,  delegations  of  braves  in  some  instances 
traveling  a  distance  of  five  hundred  miles  in  order  to  be  present. 
With  such  consummate  adroitness  did  he  conduct  these  nego- 
tiations, not  without  a  show  of  temper  and  of  strength  when 
occasion  demanded,  and  so  eloquently  did  he  present  the  inher- 
ent justice  of  the  American  cause,  that  during  the  five  weeks  he 
remained  at  Cahokia  he  was  enabled  to  conclude  treaties  with 
"ten  or  twelve  different  nations,  among  them  the  Miamis  and 
Illinois."  His  success  in  this  direction  exceeded  his  most  san- 
guine expectations. 

Having  brought  matters  to  such  a  satisfactory  issue  at  Kas- 
kaskia and  Cahokia,  Col.  Clark  next  directed  his  attention  to 
Post  Vincennes,  called  by  the  British  Fort  Sackville.  The  com- 
mandant of  this  post,  Lieut.-Gov.  Edward  Abbott,  had  gone  to 
Detroit,  leaving  the  fort  to  be  guarded  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village.  Learning  this  fact,  Col.  Clark  resolved  to  dispatch  an 
envoy  for  the  purpose  of  winning  over  the  settlers  of  that  local- 
ity to  the  support  of  the  colonial  cause.  For  this  mission  he 
selected  Pierre  Gibault,  the  vicar-general  of  the  Illinois  coun- 
try, who  was  well  known  at  Vincennes.  His  embassy  was 
completely  successful,  the  inhabitants  proceeding  in  a  body  to 
the  church  and  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance.     The  American 


154  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

flag  was  displayed  from  the  fort  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
Indians,  and  an  officer  temporarily  placed  in  command.  Capt. 
Helm,  who  had  distinguished  himself  as  a  successful  Indian 
negotiator,  was  subsequently  appointed  to  this  post,  and  entered 
upon  his  duties  as  commandant  the  middle  of  August.  Immed- 
iate steps  were  taken  to  conciliate  the  Indians,  who,  observing 
the  success  of  the  Americans  in  obtaining  possession  of  so  many 
important  British  posts,  began  to  reflect  whether  it  was  not  for 
their  interest  to  make  friends  with  the  winning  side.  The  con- 
sideration which  most  influenced  their  decision,  however,  was 
the  fact,  repeatedly  urged  upon  them,  that  "their  old  father,  the 
king  of  the  French,  had  come  to  life  again  and  was  mad  at 
them  for  fighting  for  the  British."  A  council  was  held  at  which 
all  the  tribes  of  the  Wabash  were  represented,  who  declared 
themselves  to  have  changed  their  minds  in  favor  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

But  now  occurred  one  of  those  reverses  of  fortune  incident  to 
a  state  of  war,  which  no  foresight  of  Col.  Clark  could  well 
have  prevented.  Gov.  Hamilton  of  Detroit,  having  learned  of 
the  loss  of  the  posts  of  the  Illinois,  and  that  Fort  Sackville  had 
been  left  without  a  garrison  other  than  that  furnished  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Vincennes,  resolved  at  once  to  recapture  the  lat- 
ter post.  With  a  force  of  thirty  regulars,  fifty  French  volunteers, 
and  four  hundred  Indians,  he  started  down  the  Wabash  and 
arrived  in  sight  of  the  fort,  Dec.  17.  Gov.  Hamilton  well  knew 
from  sad  experience  that  if  the  defense  of  the  fort  depended 
upon  the  French  militia,  it  would  not  long  hold  out.  He  had 
captured  that  very  day  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes  who 
was  found  to  carry  commissions  in  the  army  from  both  the 
British  and  Americans;  and  he  expresses  himself  on  the  subject 
of  their  fidelity  as  follows:  "There  is  not  one  in  twenty  of  the 
French  inhabitants  at  all  the  outposts,  I  firmly  believe,  whose 
oath  of  allegiance  would  have  force  enough  to  bind  him  to  his 
duty;  added  to  this  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  traders  among 
them  who  are  called  English,  are  rebels  in  their  hearts." 

Capt.  Helm  was  not  at  all  taken  by  surprise  at  the  approach 
of  the  British  force  and  had  done  all  he  could  to  be  prepared 
for  it.  In  a  letter  written  to  Col.  Clark  on  that  day,  which  was 
captured  by  Gov.  Hamilton,  he  says:  "The  enemy  is  in  sight, 


CAPTURE   OF   VINCENNES.  155 

and  my  determination  is  to  defend  the  garrison,  though  I  have 
but  twenty-one  men,  but  not  four  men  that  I  can  really  depend 
upon.  Not  one  of  the  militia  will  take  up  arms,  though  before 
sight  of  the  army  there  were  no  braver  men."  Even  the  four 
men  that  he  had  counted  on  turned  out  to  be  unreliable;  but  the 
brave  captain  refused  to  surrender  the  fort  when  demanded 
until  terms — the  honors  of  war — were  granted  him.  Only  him- 
self and  one  soldier*  were  surrendered,  together  with  "three 
mounted  iron  guns,  two  swivels,  fifty  pounds  of  powder,  and 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  shot."*f*  Gov.  Hamilton  once  more 
assembled  the  citizens,  enlarged  upon  their  perfidy,  and  ad- 
ministered the  oath  of  allegiance  for  the  second  time  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  of  them. 

This  was  alarming  news  when  communicated  to  Col.  Clark, 
and  placed  him  in  a  critical  situation.  He  was  well  aware  of 
the  fact  that  the  British  did  not  intend  to  stop  at  Vincennes, 
but  to  recapture  their  lost  ground  in  the  Illinois.  He  also 
learned  that  Gov.  Hamilton  had  decided  not  to  make  his  attack 
in  force  until  spring,  and  had  permitted  his  Indian  allies  to 
depart  on  their  winter's  hunt  and  to  make  such  forays  as  might 
offer.  In  one  of  these,  Col.  Clark  came  near  being  captured,  as 
a  party  of  forty  Indians  was  within  a  few  rods  of  him  when  he 
and  a  small  guard  of  six  soldiers  were  passing,  failing  to  fire  on 
them  because  they  were  instructed  to  take  him  alive. 

Col.  Clark,  who  kept  himself  well  advised  of  the  movements 
of  the  enemy,  having  also  learned  that  Maj.  de  Peyster  at  Mack- 
inac had  despatched  Capt.  Chas.  de  Langlade  to  raise  a  coopera- 
tive force  of  Indians  to  act  with  Hamilton  at  Vincennes,  or  more 
directly  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River,  upon  Cahokia,*  decided, 
with  his  accustomed  daring  and  sagacity,  not  to  wait  for  the 
favorable  weather,  the  want  of  which  had  delayed  the  British 
commander,  but  to  take  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  In- 
dians, who  were  still  marauding  across  the  Ohio,  and  become 
the  attacking  party  himself.  He  fitted  up  a  boat  mounting  two 
four-pounders,  and  placing  Lieut.  John  Rogers  in  command  with 
thirty  men,  ordered  him  to  proceed  to  Vincennes  by  water. 
With  the  detachment  recalled  from  Cahokia  and  the  two  French 

*  Moses  Henry.  t  Michigan  "Pioneer  Collections,"  IX,  p. 

Z  "Magazine  of  Western  History,"  III. 


156  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

companies,  which  were  commanded  by  Capts.  Richard  McCarty 
and  Francois  Charleville,  he  had  a  force  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  men.  The  American  companies  were  led  by 
Capts.  Bowman  and  Worthington. 

On  Feb.  7,  1779,  the  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia  came  out  in 
their  holiday  attire  to  bid  adieu  to  their  friends  and  to  cheer 
them  on  their  way  with  words  of  encouragement.  Father 
Gibault  made  a  patriotic  speech  on  the  occasion,  and  "gave  all 
the  soldiers  absolution."  The  march  across  the  country  through 
swamps  and  overflowed  bottoms,  swimming  creeks  and  rivers 
filled  with  ice  and  snow,  was  most  difficult  and  trying.  With- 
out food,  the  water,  which  was  "  breast-high,"  freezing  to  their 
clothes,  with  no  dry  land  in  sight  upon  which  shelter  and 
warmth  could  be  procured,  the  men  at  one  time  refused  to 
proceed  any  farther.  Clark's  persuasive  powers  were  invoked 
in  vain.  At  length  he  mounted  a  little  drummer-boy  upon  the 
shoulders  of  a  stalwart  sergeant,  six  feet  two  in  height,  who  was 
personally  devoted  to  his  commander,  and  gave  the  order, 
"March!"  The  sergeant  at  once  dashed  along  through  the 
water,  the  drummer-boy  beating  the  charge  from  his  lofty  perch, 
while  Clark,  with  sword  in  hand,  followed,  repeating  the  com- 
mand as  he  threw  aside  the  floating  ice,  "  Forward!  "  Inspired 
with  the  novel  scene  as  well  as  amused,  the  entire  command 
promptly  obeyed  the  order.* 

He  arrived  before  Vincennes  at  sunset,  Feb.  23,  and  immedi- 
ately began  the  attack.  Those  of  the  inhabitants  who  adhered 
to  the  king  had  been  warned  by  proclamation  "to  join  their 
hair-buying  general  [so  called  on  account  of  bounties  offered 
by  him  for  scalps]  and  fight  like  men;"  while  "the  friends  of 
liberty,"  although  assured  of  good  treatment,  were  cautioned  "to 
keep  out  of  the  streets."  On  the  next  morning,  after  a  brisk 
firing,  Col.  Clark  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  fort.  This  was 
refused,  and  the  attack  was  renewed  and  continued  for  two 
hours.  Gov.  Hamilton  believed  that  the  American  force  was 
much  larger  than  it  was,  and  fearing  that  in  case  the  fort  should 
be  carried  by  assault  no  mercy  would  be  shown  to  the  besieged, 
as  Clark  had  threatened  in  his  demand,  asked  for  a  conference, 
to  which  the  colonel  replied  as  follows: 

*  Law's  "Vincennes." 


CAPTURE   OF   VINCENNES.  1 57 


&Zpsry£^&<Cr*!^    QSix^e*&4Sl>&>?~<*r     *&<r>%*0-e^€^—  «Z^*V 


^^^/^  &£s<rr*c**r    ZZt    J25<^ 


z£^»*s 


Q^A^fy^a. 


[From  Winsor's  "America,"  Vol.  VI.] 

The  conference  which  followed  resulted  in  the  acceptance  of 
the  terms  of  capitulation  proposed  by  Col.  Clark.  Seventy-nine 
prisoners  were  surrendered,  and  stores  valued  at  $50,000.  The 
casualties  were,  one  of  Clark's  men  and  six  of  the  British 
wounded.  Gov.  Hamilton  was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Williams- 
burg, and  was  exchanged  March  4,  1781.* 

*  Gov.  Henry  Hamilton  was  appointed  governor  of  Quebec  in  1785,  and  after- 
ward governor  of  Dominica.     He  died  at  Antigua  in  1796. 

Authorities:  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes";  Clark's  "Campaign  in  the  Illinois," 
published  by  R.  Clarke  &  Co.;  "Canadian  Archives";  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of 
Illinois";  Michigan  "  Pioneer  Collections",  Vol.  IX;  "Magazine  of  Western  History," 
Vol.  Ill;  Winsor's  "America,"  Vol.  VI  and  Chap.  IX  therein,  by  W.  F.  Poole, 
LL.D. ;  "  Memoirs  of  Capt.  Matthew  Phelps,"  by  A.  Haswell;  "American  Archives," 
Series  4,  Vol.  I;  "Colonial  History  of  New  York";  "Virginia  State  Papers,"  Vol.  I. 


CHAPTER   X. 

The  County  of  Illinois — Officers  and  Government — La- 
Balme's  and  Brady's  Expeditions — Attack  on  St.  Louis 
and  Cahokia — The  Spanish  Expedition  against  St. 
Joseph — Fort  Jefferson — Close  of  the  War  and  Ter- 
mination of  Virginia  Control. 

THE  importance  of  the  brilliant  success  which  crowned  the 
well-laid  and  ably-executed  plans  of  Col.  Clark  can  hardly 
be  over-estimated.  A  well-appointed  British  garrison  remaining 
in  possession  of  Vincennes  might  have  rendered  impossible  the 
retention  by  the  Americans  of  the  captured  posts  in  the  Illinois. 
But  in  the  hands  of  the  "big-knives,"  whose  valor  the  Indians 
had  learned  to  respect,  the  situation  was  reversed  and  the  con- 
quest of  the  territory  rendered  comparatively  secure.* 

The  results  of  Clark's  brief  but  arduous  campaigns  were  far- 
reaching.  The  importance  of  the  conquest  from  a  military  and 
strategic  point  of  view  was  readily  recognized  and  appreciated. 
But  the  issue  of  the  expedition  was  fraught  with  consequences 
of  a  weightier — even  of  an  international  character.  These 
Thomas  Jefferson  was  quick  to  perceive,  and  that  sagacious 
statesman  in  a  letter  to  Clark,  written  about  the  date  of  the 
inception  of  the  expedition,  after  signifying  his  approbation 
of  the  scheme,  says:  "If  successful,  it  will  have  an  important 
bearing  ultimately  upon  our  northwestern  boundary."  Time 
justified  the  correctness  of  the  prediction.  Had  the  under- 
taking never  been  conceived,  or  had  it  failed,  American  posses- 
sion and  control  of  the  great  Northwest  might  never  have  been 
realized,  and  the  treaty  of  1783  might  have  named  as  the  west- 
ern boundaiy  of  the  new  nation  the  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies 
rather  than  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  Mississippi  Valley  lying  north  of  the  Ohio  was  claimed 
by  Virginia  under  and  by  virtue  of  ancient  charters.     The  re- 

*  The  Virginia  House  of  Delegates  manifested  their  appreciation  of  Col.  Clark's 
services  by  tendering  him  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks;  and  later  he  and  his  com- 
mand received  more  substantial  reward  in  the  donation  of  a  tract  of  150,000  acres 
of  land. 

158 


COUNTY   OF   ILLINOIS   ESTABLISHED.  1 59 

ceipt  at  Williamsburg  of  official  reports  of  the  reduction  of  the 
British  forts  within  this  territory,  inasmuch  as  it  had  been  effected 
by  Virginia  enterprise  and  valor,  was  regarded  by  the  general 
assembly  of  the  commonwealth  as  a  ground  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  such  claims.  The  house  of  delegates  accordingly  pro- 
ceeded to  extend  civil  jurisdiction  over  that  country,  in  October, 
1778,  by  enacting  a  law  establishing  the  county  of  Illinois, 
containing  the  following  provisions:  "The  citizens  of  the  com- 
monwealth of  Virginia  who  are  already  settled  or  shall  hereafter 
settle  on  the  western  side  of  the  Ohio  shall  be  included  in  a 
distinct  county  which  shall  be  called  Illinois  County;  and  the 
governor  of  this  commonwealth,  with  the  advice  of  the  council, 
may  appoint  a  county-lieutenant  or  commandant-in-chief  of 
that  county  during  pleasure,  who  shall  take  the  oath  of  fidelity 
to  this  commonwealth  and  the  oath  of  office  according  to  the 
form  of  their  own  religion.  And  all  civil  offices  to  which  the 
inhabitants  have  been  accustomed,  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  peace  and  the  administration  of  justice,  shall  be 
chosen  by  a  majority  of  the  citizens  in  their  respective  districts, 
to  be  convened  for  that  purpose  by  the  county- lieutenant  or 
commandant,  or  his  deputy,  and  shall  be  commissioned  by  said 
county-lieutenant." 

In  pursuance  of  the  above  provisions,  Patrick  Henry,  then 
governor  of  Virginia,  and  who  thus  became  ex-officio  the  first 
governor  of  Illinois,  appointed  Col.  John  Todd  of  Kentucky 
County,  the  commandant  of  the  county  of  Illinois.  Together 
with  h's  commission  the  governor  sent  Col.  Todd  a  letter 
of  instructions  containing  statesman-like  suggestions  regard- 
ing the  course  to  be  pursued  by  his  appointee.  Among  other 
things,  he  said:  "The  present  crisis  rendered  favorable  by 
the  good  disposition  of  the  French  and  Indians  may  be  im- 
proved to  great  purposes;  but  if,  unhappily,  it  should  be  lost, 
a  return  of  the  same  attachments  to  us  may  never  happen. 
Considering,  therefore,  that  early  prejudices  are  so  hard  to  wear 
out,  you  will  take  care  to  cultivate  the  affections  of  the  French 
and  Indians."  As  the  head  of  the  civil  department,  Col.  Todd 
was  to  have  the  command  of  the  militia,  "who  are  not  to  be 
under  command  of  the  military  until  ordered  out  by  the  civil 
authority  and  to  act  in  conjunction  with  them."     The  governor 


l6o  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

advised  that  on  all  occasions  he  should  impress  upon  the  people 
the  value  of  liberty  and  the  difference  between  the  state  of  free 
citizenship  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  were  destined 
and  that  of  slavery;  and  that  a  free  and  equal  representation 
and  improved  jurisprudence  was  to  be  guaranteed  them. 

Col.  Todd,  who  was  thus  authorized  to  inaugurate  the  genesis 
of  republican  institutions  and  civil  government  in  Illinois,  was  a 
Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  a  patriotic 
military  leader  in  the  county  of  his  residence.  His  appointment 
was  dated  Dec.  12,  1778,  but  he  did  not  arrive  at  Kaskaskia 
and  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  until  May  of  the 
following  year.  On  May  14,  the  militia  was  organized,  com- 
missions being  issued  to  Richard  Winston  as  deputy  comman- 
dant of  Kaskaskia,  and  to  Nicholas  Janis  and  Joseph  Duplassy 
as  captains  of  companies.  On  May  17,  Francois  Trottier  was 
commissioned  as  deputy  commandant  of  Cahokia,  and  Jean 
Bte.  Barbeau  to  hold  the  same  position  at  Prairie  du  Rocher. 

Having  discharged  these  preliminary  duties,  Col.  Todd  pro- 
ceeded to  carry  out  another  important  instruction  of  Gov.  Henry 
by  ordering  an  election  of  civil  officers,  including  the  members 
of  courts  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  which  should  have  both 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction.  The  election  held  under  this 
order  was  the  first  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise  in  Illinois. 
The  officers  chosen,  with  one  exception,  were  either  by  birth  or 
descent,  French.*  The  lack  of  persons  qualified  to  fill  the  few 
offices  vacant,  a  want  which  in  modern  days  is  never  long  felt, 
rendered  it  unavoidable  that  in  some  cases  the  same  incumbent 
should  fill  at  the  same  time  both  a  civil  and  a  military  position. 
Richard  Winston — who  held  the  office  of  sheriff  by  election,  in 
addition  to  filling  other  posts,  appointive  in  their  character — 
is  the  only  name  on  the  list  of  elective  officeholders  not  of 
French  origin. 

Thus  were  started  the  wheels  of  government  by  whose  revo- 

*  Members  of  the  court  elected  at  Kaskaskia:  Gabriel  Cerre,  Joseph  Duplassy, 
Jacques  Lesource,  Nicholas  Janis,  Jean  Bte.  barbeau,  Nicholas  LeChanie,  Charles 
Charleville,  Antoine  D.  de  Louvieres, Girradot;  Carbonneaux,  clerk;  Rich- 
ard  Winston,   sheriff.       At   Cahokia,    Touranjeau   (Michael   Godin),   Francois 

Trottier,  Charles  Gratiot,  Antoine  Gioradin,  Jean  Bte.  Saucier,  Jean  Beaulieu,  P. 
Marthin;  Francois  Saucier,  clerk;  J.  B.  LeCroix,  sheriff. — "Col.  John  Todd's  Rec- 
ord-Book." 


COUNTY   OF   ILLINOIS.  l6l 

lutions  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  forms  necessary  to  the 
establishment  of  a  free  republic  was  substituted  for  those  of 
monarchy.  Experience  proved,  however,  that  the  privileges 
of  citizenship  had  been  extended  to  those  who  appreciated 
neither  its  value  nor  its  responsibilities. 

The  next  questions  which  occupied  the  attention  of  Col. 
Todd  related  to  the  public  lands  and  the  regulation  of  trade. 
To  prevent  the  taking  up  of  large  tracts  by  speculators  he 
issued  a  proclamation  enjoining  all  persons  from  making  any 
new  settlements  of  lands,  and  requiring  the  exhibition  to  duly- 
appointed  commissioners  of  the  evidences  of  title  by  those 
already  in  possession.  Licenses  to  erect  factories  and  stores 
and  traffic  in  general  merchandise  were  granted  under  care- 
ful restrictions.  Perceiving  the  rapid  depreciation  in  the  value 
of  continental  currency,  the  commandant  evolved  a  plan  for 
the  creation  and  floating  of  a  new  circulating  medium  some- 
what in  the  nature  of  land-script,  but  the  scheme  eventually 
came  to  naught.  He  next  visited  Vincennes,  where  similar 
proceedings  were  instituted.  Returning  to  Kaskaskia,  July  27, 
he  found  that  the  lately-elected  judges  had  met  and  adjourned 
their  court  to  a  distant  date.  It  was  an  easy  method  to  get 
rid  of  a  system  of  jurisprudence  which  was  at  once  new  and 
distasteful  to  the  inhabitants.  This  adjournment  the  comman- 
dant refused  to  sanction,  and  issued  his  order  convening  the 
courts,  reprimanding  the  judges  for  their  neglect  of  duty  and 
impressing  upon  them  the  importance  of  regular  sessions. 

Early  in  August,  obedient  to  the  instructions  of  Gov.  Henry, 
Col.  Todd  forwarded  a  communication  to  the  Spanish  comman- 
dants at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  St.  Louis,  proposing  the  establish- 
ment of  commercial  relations  between  the  governments  of  Spain 
and  Virginia,  and  offering  military  assistance  in  case  it  should 
be  needed.* 

The  old  record-book  of  Col.  Todd,  now  in  possession  of  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society,  which  is  the  principal  authority 
for  the  above- cited  facts,  contains  one  page  which  affords  a 
singular  commentary  upon  the  cruelty,  ignorance,  and  super- 
stition of  this  early  period.  This  is  the  minute  of  the  capital 
condemnation  of  a  negro  slave  named  Manuel  for  some  crime 

*  E.  G.  Mason's  "  Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. " 
II 


1 62  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

not  specified,  but  which,  from  other  evidence,  is  supposed  to 
have  been  what  was  then,  as  now,  called  voudouism,  or  negro 
witchcraft.  The  order  of  the  commandant  to  the  sheriff  who 
was  required  to  execute  the  sentence  was  that  he  "  be  chained 
to  a  post  at  the  water  side  and  there  be  burnt  alive  and  his 
ashes  scattered."  On  the  original  entry  heavy  lines  have  been 
drawn  through  this  portion  of  the  record,  which  fact,  let  us  hope, 
indicates  that  the  barbarous  order  was  revoked.  Gov.  Reynolds 
in  his  "  Pioneer  History,"  second  edition,  page  175,  says  that 
a  negro  of  this  name  was  shot  at  Cahokia  for  this  offense. 

Commandant  Todd  having  been  appointed  colonel  of  a  Vir- 
ginia regiment,  left  the  county  of  Illinois  the  latter  part  of  1779,. 
and  there  is  no  accessible  evidence  showing  that  he  ever  again 
returned.  Henceforward  he  was  actively  engaged  in  military 
operations,  fulfilling  his  duties  as  commandant  of  Illinois  County 
as  well  as  distance  and  other  calls  upon  him  would  permit. 
Through  Col.  Clark  and  others  he  endeavored  to  keep  himself 
advised  of  the  situation,  and  frequently  corresponded  with  the 
governor  of  Virginia  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of  the  county. 

After  the  departure  of  the  commandant,  Col.  John  Mont- 
gomery was  assigned,  Aug.  5,  1779,  to  the  command  of  the 
military  department  of  the  Illinois,  with  headquarters  at  Kas- 
kaskia.  The  officers  in  command  of  detachments  under  him 
were  "at  Fort  Clark,  Capt.  John  Williams,  to  be  joined  by  CapL 
Worthington's  company;  at  Kaskaskia,  Capt.  Shelby,  to  be 
joined  by  Capts.  Taylor  and  Kellar's  companies;  at  Cahokia, 
Capt.  Richard  McCarty  in  command,  to  be  joined  by  Capt. 
Quirk's  company."  Maj.  Joseph  Bowman  was  assigned  to  the 
recruiting  service  and  Capt.  L.  Helm  made  Indian  agent  at 
Kaskaskia,  while  Capt.  Linetot  was  ordered  to  duty  along  the 
Illinois  River.* 

Since  the  capture  of  Vincennes,  the  loss  of  which  was  severely 
felt  by  the  British,  an  attack  upon  the  Illinois  villages  had  been 
constantly  threatened  and  feared.  As  an  offset  to  a  proposed 
expedition  of  Col.  Clark  against  Detroit,  Maj.  de  Peyster,  Brit- 
ish commander  at  Mackinac,  in  July,  directed  Capt.  Charles 
Langlade  to  arouse  the  Indians  on  Lake  Michigan  and  join 
Lieut.  Thomas  Bennett,  who  was  in  command  of  one  hundred 

*  "Virginia  State  Papers, "  I,  324. 


BRITISH   PLANS   TO   RETAKE   ILLINOIS.  163 

regulars  at  Chicago,  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  attack  upon 
the  Illinois  towns.  He  succeeded  in  raising  a  force  of  two 
hundred  savages,  but  upon  learning  that  Clark  had  abandoned 
his  proposed  expedition  he  returned  to  his  post. 

In  March,  1780,  Col.  Clark,  who  was  kept  well  advised  of 
these  movements,  writes  to  Col.  Todd  that  he  much  fears  that 
the  efforts  of  the  British  to  regain  the  favor  of  the  Indians  and 
retake  Illinois  will  succeed.  And  what  is  very  singular,  he 
further  states  that  he  is  "  not  clear  but  the  Spaniards  would 
favorably  suffer  these  [Illinois]  settlements  to  fall  into  British 
hands  for  the  sake  of  having  an  opportunity  to  retake  them."* 

It  will  be  remembered  that  that  portion  of  the  Illinois  district 
lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  which  formerly  belonged  to  France 
now  belonged  to  Spain,  and  that  St.  Louis  was  its  chef-lieu  or 
capital.  The  Spanish  government  was  at  this  time  the  ally  of 
the  United  States  and  the  avowed  foe  of  Great  Britain,  having 
declared  war  against  that  power  on  May  8,  1779.  It  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  interest  of  the  Spaniards,  as  friendly 
neighbors  of  the  colonies  on  their  eastern  border,  to  act  in 
unison  with  them  and  against  the  assaults  of  the  common  foe. 
Gov.  Henry,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  had  been  particular  to 
enjoin  such  a  policy  upon  the  commandant  of  Illinois.  But,  as 
will  be  seen  hereafter,  the  suspicion  of  the  watchful  and  saga- 
cious Clark  was  fully  justified  by  the  event. 

In  June,  1779,  one  month  after  the  Spanish  declaration  of 
war,  Gen.  Fred.  Haldimand,  then  governor  of  Canada,  acting 
under  instructions  of  the  home  government,  of  which  Lord 
Germaine  was  the  head,  prepared  to  organize  an  attack  upon  the 
Spanish  posts  along  the  Mississippi.  A  military  force  was  to 
be  despatched  from  Pensacola  under  Gen.  John  Campbell,  then 
in  command  of  the  British  garrison  there,  and  all  the  north- 
western governors  were  instructed  by  secret  circular  letters 
to  cooperate  with  the  movement.  At  this  time  the  Spanish 
governor  at  New  Orleans,  Col.  Don  Bernardo  de  Galvez,  a 
youthful  officer — scarcely  twenty- five — whose  sagacity  was  equal 
to  his  valor,  having  learned  through  intercepted  letters  the  in- 
tentions of  the  British,  determined  boldly  to  anticipate  the 
contemplated  assault  by  becoming  himself  the  attacking  party. 

*   "Vir-inia  State  Tapers,"  I,  338. 


164  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Accordingly,  in  September,  he  started  from  New  Orleans  with 
six  hundred  and  seventy  troops  on  an  expedition  to  capture  the 
enemy's  posts  at  Fort  Manchac  and  Baton  Rouge.  Both  points 
fell  into  his  hands.  He  followed  up  these  successes  by  promptly 
marching  upon  Natchez,  the  capitulation  of  which  was  likewise 
secured. 

Five  months  after  the  occurrence  of  these  events,  in  Feb.,  1780, 
Capt.  Patrick  Sinclair,  who  had  succeeded  Maj.  Arent  Schuyler 
de  Peyster  in  the  command  of  the  British  troops  at  Mackinac, 
was  busily  engaged  in  organizing  a  force  of  Indians,  whom,  with 
a  detachment  of  white  troops,  it  was  his  intention  to  despatch 
to  Natchez  in  order  to  cooperate  with  Gen.  Campbell.  While 
such  cooperation  was  the  ultimate  object  of  the  movement, 
Capt.  Sinclair  proposed,  under  instructions  from  Gov.  Haldi- 
niand,  to  deal  the  American  rebels  a  crushing  blow  on  the  way. 
•Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  were  to  be  reduced  and  also  the  Spanish 
posts  at  St.  Louis  and  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  former  had  been 
popularly  known  as  Paincourt — colloquially  abbreviated  to  Pan- 
core,  and  the  latter  Miscre.  Sinclair  had  received  information 
to  the  effect  that  St.  Louis  was  protected  only  by  a  garrison 
of  "  twenty  men  and  twenty  brass  cannon."  He  supposed  that 
the  capture  of  the  posts  named  would  be  less  difficult  than 
holding  them  afterward.  The  expedition  started  on  May  2; 
according  to  Capt.  Sinclair's  statement,  it  was  composed  of 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  men,  including  servants,  Indians, 
traders,  and  twenty  Canadian  volunteers.  Capt.  Hesse  was  in 
command,  but  the  aboriginal  contingent  was  directly  controlled 
by  Chief  Wabasha.  The  former  was  ordered  to  remain  at 
St.  Louis,  while  the  latter  was  to  assault  Ste.  Genevieve  and 
Kaskaskia. 

All  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  the  brilliant  successes  of  Gov. 
Galvez  had  long  before  resulted  in  the  transfer  of  Natchez  to 
the  Spanish  power,  Capt.  Sinclair  impressed  upon  Capt.  Hesse 
the  imperative  necessity  of  pressing  forward  to  that  point  with 
all  possible  despatch.  With  sublime  faith  in  his  success  and  a 
watchful  eye  toward  resulting  necessities  in  the  way  of  subsist- 
ence, he  thus  outlined  his  plans  in  an  official  communication  to 
Haldimand:  "The  two  lower  villages  of  the  Illinois  were  to  be 
laid  under  contribution  for  the  support  of  the  different  garrisons 


ATTACK   ON    ST.  LOUTS.  l6$ 

and  the  two  upper  villages  to  supply  LaBay  with  cattle  to  feed 
the  Indians."*  On  May  26,  1780,  the  expedition  arrived  before 
St.  Louis  and  prepared  to  make  its  attack. 

In  the  meantime,  Col.  Clark,  who  was  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio,  had  been  informed,  both  by  Montgomery  and  Capt.  Fer- 
dinand de  Leyba,  lieutenant-governor  of  St.  Louis,  of  the  im- 
pending invasion,  and  with  a  small  force  arrived  at  Cahokia 
only  twenty-four  hours  before  the  appearance  of  the  enemy.-f- 

The  conflicting  reports  of  the  affair  which  followed  afford  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  difficulties  attending  nearly  every 
effort  to  arrive  at  the  truth  regarding  these  early  engagements 
on  the  border.  Gov.  Reynolds  in  his  account  says  that  the  raid 
was  incited  by  one  Ducharme  in  revenge  for  personal  injuries 
inflicted  on  him  as  a  trader,  and  that  his  force  numbered  fifteen 
hundred  men;  and  that,  having  killed  "as  many  as  appeased 
his  wrath,  he  withdrew  his  red  warriors  and  abandoned  the  mas- 
sacre." Stoddard,  in  his  "  Sketches  of  Louisiana,"  says  sixty 
were  killed  and  thirty  prisoners  were  taken,  j  Local  writers  at 
St.  Louis,  however,  concur  in  the  statement  that  the  attack  was 
made  in  the  forenoon  at  an  early  hour  and  not  then  expected; 
that  the  village  was  without  defensive  works  of  any  kind;  that 
those  who  were  killed  were  shot  in  the  fields,  the  enemy  not 
approaching  within  three-fourths  of  a  mile  of  the  post;  that 
certainly  not  more  than  seven  or  eight  of  the  villagers  lost  their 
lives,  all  but  two  of  whom  were  buried  the  same  afternoon,  their 
names  appearing  in  the  church  register;  that  none  of  them 
were  scalped;  that  but  few  were  taken  prisoners,  and  that  there 
was  no  destruction  of  property.§  Col.  John  Montgomery  re- 
ports that,  "  finding  they  [the  invading  force]  were  likely  to  be 
disappointed  in  their  designs,  they  returned  after  doing  some 
mischief  on  the  Spanish  shore  which  we  would  have  prevented 
if,  unfortunately,  the  high  wind  had  not  prevented  the  signals 
being  heard." 

*  "  Michigan  Pioneer  Collection,"  IX,  546,  558. 

+  "Virginia  State  Papers,"  I  IT,  p.  443. 

£  The  discrepancy  between  historians  as  to  the  date  of  the  occurrence  is  almost 
as  great  as  is  the  divergence  in  their  respective  accounts  of  its  results.  They  fix 
it  variously  as  May  6,  1778,  Judge  Hall;  May,  1779,  Primm;  May  6,  1780,  Nicollet. 

§  O.  W.  Collet  MS.,  1 1 


1 66  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Now  contrast  the  foregoing  with  the  report  of  the  redoubtable 
Capt.  Sinclair  to  Gen.  Haldimand:  "The  two  first  of  the  Indian 
nations  [Winnebagoes  and  Sioux]  would  have  stormed  the  Span- 
ish lines  if  the  Sacs  and  Outigamies,  under  their  treacherous 
leader  Mons.  Calve,  had  not  fallen  back  so  early  as  to  give  them 
well-grounded  suspicion  that  they  were  between  two  fires.  A 
Mons.  Ducharme  and  others  who  traded  in  the  country  kept 
pace  with  Mons.  Calve  in  his  perfidity.  The  attack,  unsuccessful 
as  it  was,  will  still  have  its  good  consequences.  The  Winneba- 
goes had  a  chief  and  three  men  killed  and  four  wounded — the 
only  sufferers.  The  rebels  lost  an  officer  and  three  men  killed 
at  Cahokia,  and  five  prisoners.  At  Pancore,  sixty-eight  were 
killed  and  eighteen  black  and  white  people  made  prisoners. 
Many  hundreds  of  cattle  were  destroyed  and  forty-three  scalps 
are  brought  in."  "  In  weighing  this  report  of  the  captain,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  emanated  from  the  head-quarters 
of  an  unsuccessful  commandant.  That  his  statement  of  losses 
inflicted  upon  the  enemy  was  exaggerated  to  meet  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  occasion,  does  not  admit  of  any  doubt. 

The  Hesse-Wabasha  expedition  made  much  better  time  in 
returning  than  it  had  done  in  going;  the  speed  of  the  retreat- 
ing Indians  being  accelerated  by  the  close  proximity  of  Col. 
Montgomery  with  a  force  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
including  a  party  of  Spanish  allies,  who  followed  them  to 
Peoria  lake  and  thence  to  Rock  River,  destroying  their  towns 
and  crops  on  the  way.  No  amount  of  provocation  was  suffi- 
cient to  induce  the  fugitives  to  make  a  stand  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  battle.  The  lesson  taught  by  this  fiasco  was  not  lost 
upon  the  Indians,  and  they  bore  it  in  mind  when  efforts  were 
subsequently  made  to  incite  them  to  attack  Illinois,  and  ex- 
hibited a  preference  for  an  expedition  in  some  other  direction. 

In  order  to  divert  attention  from  the  expedition  of  Capt. 
Hesse  and  his  Indian  allies,  Capt.  Henry  Bird  was  despatched 
from  Detroit  by  Maj.  de  Peyster  in  May,  1780,  with  a  force  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  whites  and  one  thousand  Indians,  with  two 
field-pieces,  to  invade  Kentucky,  the  fitting  out  of  which  expe- 
dition involved  an  outlay  of  over  $200,ooo."f-     As  soon  as  Col. 

*  "Michigan  Pioneer  Collection,"  IX,  559. 

+  Farmer's  "History  of  Detroit,"  260.     "Michigan  Pioneer  Collection,"  III,  25. 


FORT  JEFFERSON.  1 67 

Clark  had  been  assured  of  the  precipitate  flight  of  the  motley 
company  which  had  undertaken  the  reduction  of  St.  Louis,  he 
directed  his  attention  to  the  force  from  Detroit.  Hastening  to 
Kentucky,  he  quickly  recruited  one  thousand  volunteers.  Bird 
appears  to  have  taken  alarm,  and  after  storming  two  unimpor- 
tant stockades  retreated,  manifesting  no  disposition  to  encoun- 
ter the  Americans  on  an  open  field.  By  way  of  reprisal  for  this 
inroad,  Clark  silently  swept  down  upon  the  Indian  villages  north 
of  the  Ohio,  thereby  at  once  retaliating  upon  the  invaders  and 
diverting  their  attention  to  the  support  of  their  savage  allies. 

The  original  conception  of  the  plan  of  campaign  by  Lord 
Germaine,  above  outlined,  was  brilliant  in  design  and  bid 
fair  to  prove  a  success.  Had  not  the  rapidity  and  daring 
of  Gov.  Galvez  forestalled  its  execution  by  preventing  the 
union  of  the  northern  and  southern  divisions  of  the  pro- 
posed army,  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  might  have  been  the 
ultimate  issue  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution.*  As  it  was,  how- 
ever, the  Spanish  commander  at  New  Orleans  unintentionally 
rendered  to  the  infant  colonies  the  most  valuable  aid.  The 
British  advance  was  checked  before  it  had  fairly  begun,  and  the 
raids  of  captains  Hesse  and  Bird  were  the  last  organized  at- 
tempts to  regain  the  country  of  the  Illinois  or  to  capture  the 
Spanish  posts  along  the  Mississippi. 

In  March,  1780,  Col.  Clark,  foreseeing  the  probability  of 
British  inroads,  addressed  a  letter  to  Col.  Todd  recommend- 
ing the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the  outlying  posts  in 
the  Illinois  country  and  their  concentration  at  a  point  known 
as  the  Iron  Banks,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  just 
below  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  with  that  river.  On  June  2,  Col. 
Todd  submitted  this  recommendation,  with  his  endorsement,  to 
the  governor  of  Virginia.  The  proposition  was  approved  by 
the  general  assembly,  and  the  new  post  was  named  Fort  Jef- 
ferson, in  honor  of  the  then  governor  of  that  common  wealth,  -f* 
Grants  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land  were  made  to  heads  of 
families  in  order  to  invite  and  stimulate  immigration,  and  com- 
missions freely  issued  to  volunteer  officers,  with  a  view  to  re- 
cruiting the  ranks  of  the  militia. 

*  The  author  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  Dr.  W.   F.   Poole  for  directing 
his  attention  to  the  authorities  relating  to  the  intended  Campbell  expedition. 
t  "Virginia  State  Papers,"  Vol.  I,  358,  360. 


l68  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

The  event  proved  this  to  have  been  an  unwise  and  unfortunate 
step,  which  would  not  have  been  taken  could  its  results  have 
been  foreseen.  It  was  in  effect  an  abandonment  of  the  villages 
of  Illinois,  which  were  thereby  left  exposed  and  liable  to  easy- 
conquest  by  the  British.  The  new  post  was  erected  on  the 
hunting-grounds  of  the  Chickasaws,  without  their  consent.  In 
consequence,  this  tribe,  which  had  theretofore  been  friendly,  at 
once  became  hostile,  and  made  frequent  raids  upon  it;  and 
when  they  became  pacified,  the  beleaguered  garrison  was 
attacked  by  other  tribes.  As  a  result,  tort  Jefferson  was  in 
a  constant  state  of  fear;  and  so  far  from  prospering,  as  had 
been  hoped  and  confidently  expected,  the  post  proved  a  con- 
stant source  of  annoyance  and  expense  to  the  government. 
There  was  a  continual  dearth  of  supplies,  particularly  of  a 
liquid  sort,  the  demand  for  which  being  the  hardest  to  satisfy, 
and  their  receipt  affording  the  greatest  pleasure.  Thus  writes 
Capt.  Robert  George:  "We  are  now  able  to  drink  brandy, 
taffia,  and  wine,  and,  with  your  good  assistance,  whisky  too; 
but  it  has  not  made  us  so  saucy  but  we  can  drink  all  the 
whisky  you  can  send  us."    The  fort  was  evacuated  June  8,  1781. 

At  the  same  time  a  spirit  of  insubordination  sprang  up  among 
the  militia  at  various  points.  Richard  Winston,  as  civil  com- 
mandant at  Kaskaskia,  was  having  trouble  with  Col.  Montgom- 
ery, who,  Col.  Todd  says  in  a  letter  to  Gov.  Jefferson,  went  to 
New  Orleans  under  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  grave 
scandal;  while  Capt.  Richard  McCarty  was  rendering  himself 
exceedingly  disagreeable  "  by  endeavoring  to  enforce  military 
law  upon  the  civil  authorities  at  Cahokia."  * 

Without  either  regularly-constituted  military  authority  or  a 
civil  government  which  commanded  respect,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Illinois  villages  were  subject  to  the  impositions  of  any 
adventurer  seeking  to  use  them  for  the  accomplishment  of 
his  own  ends.  Of  these,  one  Col.  Moltin  de  la  Balme  was 
the  most  conspicuous.  He  came  to  this  country  with  Lafay- 
ette, and  claiming  to  have  authority  from  the  United  States, 
went  to  Kaskaskia  in  the  fall  of  1780,  and  after  obtaining 
supplies,  organized  an  expedition  for  the  purpose  —  as  he  al- 
leged— of  capturing  Detroit.     He  raised  a  force  variously  esti- 

*  "Virginia  State  Papers,"  I,  460. 


ATTACK   ON   ST  JOSEPH.  1 69 

mated  at  from  twenty  to  fifty  men,  which  was  increased  to  one 
hundred  and  three  by  additional  volunteers  from  Vincennes, 
besides  a  band  of  Indian  allies.  From  here  he  marched  to 
the  post  of  Kekionga,  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee  River,  which 
settlement,  after  sacking,  he  destroyed.  Securing  the  plunder, 
he  proceeded  to  the  river  Aboite,  and  while  there  encamped, 
was  attacked  during  the  night  by  a  party  of  Miamis,  who  over- 
whelmingly defeated  him,  killing  Col.  la  Balme  and,  it  was 
reported,  between  thirty  and  forty  of  his  followers,  and  disper- 
sing the  remainder.  The  colonel's  watch,  set  with  diamonds, 
his  double-barrelled  gun,  spurs,  and  valuable  papers  were 
brought  to  Maj.  de  Peyster  by  an  Indian.* 

Fort  St.  Joseph,  situated  on  the  river  of  that  name,  was  the 
British  post  nearest  to  the  Illinois  villages.  It  was  used  not  only 
as  a  depot  of  supplies,  but  as  a  general  rendezvous  for  the  Indian 
allies  of  the  British,  and  from  which  they  had  made  frequent  hos- 
tile raids.  The  vigorous  pursuit  of  the  force  sent  against  St.  Louis 
and  Cahokia,  and  the  unexpected  strength  of  the  Americans 
thereby  exhibited,  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  British  garrison 
at  this  post  by  order  of  Lieut.-Gov.  Sinclair  in  the  summer  of 
1780.  The  British  traders  there  feeling  secure  in  the  protection 
afforded  them  by  the  presence  of  friendly  Indians,  decided, 
however,  to  remain.  When  these  facts  became  known  in  the 
Illinois  it  was  determined  to  raise  a  small  force  and  make  a 
raid  against  the  post.  The  company  consisted  of  seventeen 
men  only,  and  was  commanded  by  Thomas  Brady,  a  patriotic 
citizen  of  Cahokia  who  had  emigrated  from  Pennsylvania  and 
who  is  described  as  having  been  both  restless  and  daring. 
Marching  across  the  country  in  October,  he  succeeded  in  eluding 
the  Indian  guards  and  captured  the  place,  taking  a  few  British 
prisoners  together  with  a  large  quantity  of  goods.  Being  over- 
confident, on  his  return  he  was  attacked  by  a  force  of  Potta- 
watomies  and  British  traders,  hastily  organized  for  that  purpose, 
while  he  lay  encamped  on  the  Calumet.  His  party  was  easily 
defeated ;  two  of  them  were  killed,  two  wounded,  and  ten  taken 
prisoners.  Brady,  with  two  others,  succeeded  in  making  his 
escape,  and,  returning  to  Illinois,  did  not  rest  until  another 
expedition  was  organized  to  rescue  his  friends  and  avenge  his 

*  "History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,"  by  Silas  Farmer,  257. 


170  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

defeat.  This  was  the  now  noted  invasion  of  which  the  following 
is  an  account:*  Learning  that  the  post  had  been  again  occupied, 
it  was  determined  by  the  authorities  at  St.  Louis  and  Cahokia 
to  make  another  effort  to  capture  the  place  and  avenge  their 
common  wrongs.  An  expedition  composed  of  about  sixty-five 
whites,  including  Spaniards  and  Cahokians,  and  some  two  hun- 
dred Indians,  was  organized  to  proceed  against  it.  It  was  com- 
manded by  a  Spanish  captain  named  Don  Eugenio  Pourre,  and 
started  out  on  Jan.  2.  1781,  marching  across  the  country  in  the 
usual  pioneer  fashion  and  meeting  with  but  few  obstructions 
and  very  little  opposition.  The  Indians  encountered  on  the  way 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  were  easily  placated  by  presents 
and  the  promise  of  receiving  a  portion  of  the  anticipated  spoils. 
Arriving  at  the  fort  and  finding  no  force  prepared  to  oppose 
them,  the  raiders  "valorously  dashed  in"  and  captured  it  without 
striking  a  blow.  The  few  traders  there  had  relied  on  the  rep- 
resentations and  friendship  of  the  neighboring  Indians,  some  of 
whom  accompanied  the  attacking  party,  and  having  lent  a 
willing  ear  to  the  superior  inducements  offered  by  the  lat- 
ter, permitted  their  unopposed  approach.  The  place  was 
plundered  and  the  goods  and  provisions  distributed  among  the 
Indians  as  had  been  promised.  The  British  flag  was  replaced 
by  that  of  Spain,  and  possession  was  taken  in  the  name  of  "His 
Catholic  Majesty,"  not  only  of  St.  Joseph  and  its  dependencies, 
but  also  of  the  Illinois  River.f 

Possession  was  retained  only  a  few  days,  when  the  fort  was 
evacuated  and  the  command  returned  to  St.  Louis.  Yet  from 
this  affair,  which  was  deemed  of  but  little  importance  by  the 
British,  there  arose  serious  international  complications.  A 
report  of  the  alleged  "conquest,"  no  doubt  exaggerated  and 
highly  colored,  was  forwarded  to  Madrid  and  published  in 
the  official  gazette.  Copies  of  this  paper  were  transmitted  to 
Gen.  Washington  by  John  Jay,  our  Spanish  minister;  and  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  our  minister  to  France,  made  it  the  subject 
of  a  special  communication  to  Congress.  It  has,  indeed,  been 
contended  that  the  expedition  was  "inspired  and  directed"  by 

*  The  date  given  by  Gov.  Reynolds  and  others  for  this  expedition,  1777,  is  erro- 
neous.— See  "Virginia  State  Papers,"  I,  465. 

+  Dillon's  "Historical  'Notes,"  190;  "Secret  Journal  of  Congress,"  IV,  65. 


ATTACK   ON   ST.  JOSEPH.  171 

the  Spanish  ministry  as  a  part  of  their  scheme  to  acquire  a 
portion  at  least  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  But  the  facts  seem 
to  warrant  the  assertion  that  it  was  simply  an  ordinary  raid, 
having  plunder  for  its  object,  which  originated  at  St.  Louis 
and  Cahokia,  being  composed  of  troops  from  both  places, 
and  was  intended  as  a  legitimate  retaliation  to  the  attack  by 
the  British  and  Indians  upon  these  places  the  preceding  year. 
The  idea  of  giving  it  the  importance  subsequently  attached  to 
it  and  of  using  it  for  diplomatic  purposes  was  probably  an 
afterthought,  possibly  justified  by  the  misleading  terms  of  the 
report.  At  all  events,  it  served  the  purpose  of  giving  added 
strength  to  the  Spanish  claim  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  for  the 
assertion  of  which  the  previous  reduction  of  British  posts  above 
New  Orleans  had  already  laid  the  foundation.* 

The  preposterous  character  of  this  claim  appears  from  the 
following  considerations: 

(1)  It  was  evidently  a  joint  expedition,  conceived  and  under- 
taken by  the  authorities  at  both  St.  Louis  and  Cahokia.  Cer- 
tainly neither  party  could  fairly  claim  the  benefit  arising  from 
its  success  exclusively  for  itself;  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that  the  inhabitants  of  an  Illinois  village  would  engage  in  a 
warlike  undertaking  which  had  for  its  object  the  transfer  of  a 
portion  of  the  territory  belonging  to  the  colonies  to  a  foreign 
power. 

(2)  The  claim  of  Spain  was,  that  in  consequence  of  having 
taken  St.  Joseph,  they  "  had  made  a  conquest  of  the  Illinois 
country."  f  The  fact  is  that  St.  Joseph  was  not  then,  if  indeed 
it  had  ever  been,  any  part  of  the  Illinois  country  either  as  a 
district  or  territory.  In  this  respect  and  in  coupling  the  name 
of  the  Illinois  River  with  the  capture,  it  was  a  bare-faced  fraud, 
without  a  shadow  of  evidence  to  support  it.  If  the  Spanish 
government  had  desired  to  establish  a  bona-fide  claim  to  Illinois 
by  virtue  of  conquest,  the  coveted  territory  was  near  at  hand 
— only  across  the  river.  The  military  had  been  withdrawn 
therefrom,  its  towns  were  not  garrisoned  except  by  small  de- 
tachments of  militia,  who  would  not  have  been  able  to  resist  a 
serious  attack  or  endure  a  siege. 

(3)  Even  if  the  claim  had  been  geographically  correct,  the 

*  "Secret  Journal  of  Congress,"  IV,  62.  t  Spark's  "Franklin,"  IX,  128. 


172  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

fact  that  no  effort  was  made  to  retain  possession  of  so  important 
a  post  shows  that  it  was  not  intended  at  the  time  to  base  a 
claim  of  conquest  upon  its  capture. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  effrontery  and  absurdity  of  the  claim, 
it  was  seriously  presented  and  urged  by  Spain  at  the  preliminary 
negotiations  for  peace  between  the  colonies  and  Great  Britain 
at  Paris  in  1782,  and  was  even  supported  by  France.  But 
owing  to  the  sagacity,  firmness,  and  wisdom  of  Jay,  Franklin, 
and  Adams,  who  were  well  acquainted  with  the  facts  and  cir- 
cumstance of  the  case,  the  accomplishment  of  the  scheme  which 
might  have  made  the  Ohio  River  instead  of  the  Mississippi 
the  western  boundry  of  the  United  States  was  prevented. 

This  was  the  last  expedition  in  which  the  citizens  of  Illinois 
are  reported  to  have  taken  any  part  during  the  Revolution. 

In  1780,  Col.  Todd,  the  commandant,  was  elected  a  delegate 
from  the  county  of  Kentucky  to  the  general  assembly  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  in  November  of  that  year  he  was  appointed  colonel 
of  Fayette  County.  In  May,  1781,  he  became  a  citizen,  and 
was  elected  a  trustee,  of  Lexington.  After  this  date  he  seems 
to  have  paid  no  attention  to  Illinois  affairs,  as  in  a  letter  to  the 
governor  of  Virginia,  dated  Oct.  21,  he  makes  no  allusion  to 
them  as  he  had  done  in  previous  communications.  He  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Blue  Licks,  Aug.  18,  1782. 

But  little  now  remains  to  be  added  regarding  Illinois  as  a 
county  of  Virginia.  In  1782,  one  "Thimothe  Demunbrunt,  Lt. 
comd'g  par  interim,  etc.,"  as  he  signed  himself  in  the  old  record- 
book,  exercised  authority;  and  claimed  to  act  as  commandant 
until  the  arrival  of  Gov.  Arthur  St.  Clair,  in  1790;*  but  so  far 
as  appears,  his  official  acts  were  confined  to  "  affording  succor," 
upon  their  application,  to  some  Delaware  and  Shawnee  Indians. 
They  pleaded  poverty  as  their  excuse  for  asking  assistance,  and 
professed  their  willingness  to  be  conciliated  by  the  receipt  of 
corn,  flour,  tobacco,  and  taffia,  of  which  the  latter  article  was 
much  the  largest  quantity  in  proportion  to  the  others.  It  is 
also  known  that  Demunbrunt  was  quite  liberal  in  the  issuing 
of  land-grants,  which  afterward  formed  the  subject  of  much 
litigation. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  however,  the 

*  "Virginia  State  Papers,"  V,  408. 


AFFAIRS    IN    ILLINOIS    COUNTY.  173 

civil  affairs  of  the  country  were  entirely  neglected  by  both 
Virginia  and  Congress,  and  the  people  were  left  without  a 
government.  Courts  ceased  to  be  held  and  public  officers  failed 
or  refused  to  discharge  their  duties.*  To  make  the  condition 
of  the  people,  if  possible,  still  more  deplorable,  in  1784,  after 
the  cession  of  the  country  to  the  United  States,  an  irresponsible 
body  of  soldiers,  pretending  to  have  authority  from  Virginia, 
organized  themselves,  assumed  control,  and  plundered  and  op- 
pressed the  inhabitants  "with  a  high  hand."i" 

The  old  record-book  contains  no  entries  from  April  29,  1782, 
until  June  5,  1787,  and  only  two  thereafter.  The  last  of  these 
is  the  record  of  a  jury  trial  between  John  Edgar,  plaintiff,  and 
Thomas  Green,  defendant.  Col.  Josiah  Harmar  had  visited  the 
country  and  endeavored  to  restore  order  by  reestablishing  the 
courts,  but  in  effect  there  was  neither  law  nor  order  in  the 
Illinois  country  for  the  seven  years  from  1783  to  1790.  The 
French  inhabitants  were  the  greatest  sufferers  on  account  of 
the  absence  of  these  essential  safeguards  of  society,  being  ignor- 
ant and  easily  imposed  upon.  The  American  settlers,  though 
as  yet  few  and  scattered,  were  better  able  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves. 

*  Dillon's  "  Historical  Notes, "  405.  t  Gen.  St.  Clair's  report  to  Congress. 

Authorities:  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers;  "Western  Annals";  "Michigan 
Pioneer  Collection,"  Vol.  IX.;  "Report  of  Canadian  Archives";  Winsor's  "America," 
Vol.  VI,  Chap.  V,  by  William  F.  Poole;  "Magazine  of  American  History,"  Vol.  XV; 
"March  of  the  Spaniards  across  Illinois,"  by  E.  G.  Mason;  "Secret  Journals  of 
Congress";  Farmer's  "History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan";  Dillon's  "Notes  and 
Northwestern  Territory";  "Magazine  of  Western  History";  Butler's  "History  of 
Kentucky";  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois";  Col.  Todd's  "Old  Record- 
Book";  Mason's  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century";  Girardin's  "History  of 
Virginia,"  IV;  Pitkin's  "History  of  the  United  States." 


Period  IV. — Under  the  United  States, 

1784-1818. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


The  Public  Domain— How  Obtained  — Its  Extent— What 
it  Cost  —  How  Surveyed. 

THE  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  concluded  at  Paris,  Sept.  3,  1783,  was  ratified  by 
Congress,  Jan.  14,  1784.  The  second  article  of  the  treaty 
defined  the  western  boundaries  of  the  United  States  as  follows: 
"  From  the  most  northwest  point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  on 
a  due-west  course  to  the  River  Mississippi,  thence  by  a  line  to 
be  drawn  along  the  middle  of  said  River  Mississippi  until  it 
shall  intersect  the  northwest  part  of  the  thirty-first  degree  of 
north  latitude." 

The  claims  of  Virginia  and  of  other  states  to  the  territory  of 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  valleys,  whether  the  same  had  been 
included  in  ancient  charters,  in  treaties  with  the  Indians,  or 
obtained  by  conquest,  were  opposed  by  the  states  of  Delaware, 
Maryland,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  and  New 
Hampshire,  which  had  no  claims  to  western  lands. 

Under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  it  was  provided  that  no 
State  should  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States;  and  that  settlements  of  disputed  boundaries  or 
jurisdiction  as  between  the  states  should  be  by  commissioners 
appointed  by  Congress.  Maryland  refused  to  agree  to  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  because  of  the  above  provisions  until, 
in  May,  1781 — the  other  five  states  having  done  so,  protesting 
against  it.  The  disagreeing  states  claimed  that  if  the  unsettled 
western  country  ceded  by  France  to  Great  Britain  had  been,  as 
they  contended,  wrested  from  the  common  enemy  by  the  blood 
and  treasure  of  the  thirteen  states,  it  should  be  considered  as  a 
common  acquisition  to  be  divided  by  Congress  into  free  and 
independent  governments  "in  such  manner  as  its  wisdom  might 
direct."     It  was  contended  that  if  the  claim  of  Virginia  to  the 

174 


THE   PUBLIC   DOMAIN.  1 75, 

country  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  should  be  allowed,  she  could 
raise  and  equip  volunteers  on  more  favorable  terms  than  the 
other  states  by  offering  large  bounties  in  the  form  of  lands;  that 
that  commonwealth  would  also  be  able  to  derive  a  vast  revenue 
from  sales  of  the  same,  thus  securing  an  undue  advantage  in 
the  way  of  taxation.  She  would  also,  by  attracting  settlers  to 
cheap  lands,  deprive  other  states  not  so  advantageously  situated 
of  their  most  enterprising  citizens. 

Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  under  that  provision  of  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  which  left  the  disposition  of  lands  to 
the  states  owning  them,  opened  land-offices  as  early  as  1779, 
and  proposed  to  dispose  of  them  by  grants  of  bounties  and 
sales.  So  pronounced  had  become  the  opposition  to  these  pro- 
ceedings that  Congress,  on  Oct.  30,  1779,  adopted  a  resolution,, 
which  was  transmitted  to  the 'different  states,  "that  it  be  ear- 
nestly recommended  to  the  State  of  Virginia  to  reconsider  their 
late  act  of  assembly  for  opening  their  land-office,  and  that  it  be 
recommended  to  said  state,  and  all  other  states  similarly  cir- 
cumstanced, to  forbear  settling  or  issuing  warrants  for  unappro- 
priated land,  or  granting  the  same  during  the  continuance  of 
the  present  war."  * 

New  York  was  the  first  state  to  respond,  and  on  March  yr 
1780,  her  legislature  passed  an  act  authorizing  her  delegates  in 
Congress  to  limit  and  restrict  the  boundaries  of  the  state  in 
such  manner  as  they  should  judge  to  be  expedient,  and  to  cede 
its  claim  to  western  lands.  Virginia  remonstrated  and  held 
back,  but  on  Sept.  6,  1780,  on  the  report  of  a  committee,  Con- 
gress resolved  "That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  those 
states  who  have  claims  to  the  western  country  to  pass  such  laws 
and  give  their  delegates  in  Congress  such  powers  as  may  remove 
the  only  obstacle  to  a  final  ratification  of  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation." As  a  farther  act  of  pacification,  Congress,  on  Oct. 
10,  adopted  a  resolution  "that  the  unappropriated  lands  that 
may  be  ceded  or  relinquished  to  the  United  States  pursuant  to 
the  recommendation  of  Sept.  6,  shall  be  disposed  of  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  United  States,  and  be  settled  and  be 
formed  into  distinct  republican  states,  which  shall  become 
members  of  the  Federal  Union  and  have  the  same  rights  of 

*  "Public  Domain,"  63. 


176  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence  as  the  other  states."* 

On  Jan.  2,  178 1,  Virginia  passed  an  act  proposing  to  Congress 
to  cede  her  lands  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River  on  certain  con- 
ditions. On  Oct.  31,  1 78 1,  the  resolution  of  Oct.  10,  together 
with  the  acts  and  resolutions  of  New  York  and  Virginia,  were 
referred  by  Congress  to  a  committee  of  seven.  The  formal 
deed  of  cession  of  New  York  was  made  and  filed  in  Congress 
March  1,  1781,  but  no  immediate  action  was  taken  thereon. 

In  the  meantime,  other  claimants  had  arisen  to  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  lands  in  question,  namely,  the  Indiana,  the  Vandalia, 
the  Illinois,  and  the  Wabash  land  companies,  who  filed  their 
petitions  before  the  committee,  setting  up  their  claims  by  right 
of  purchase  from  the  Indians.  Against  this  action  Virginia 
protested,  and  raised  the  question  that  the  committee  had  no 
authority  to  consider  these  claims. 

On  Nov.  3,  1 78 1,  the  committee,  as  appears  by  subsequent 
proceedings,  made  its  report,  which  was  not  only  adverse  to 
Virginia,  but  recommended  favorable  action  in  regard  to  certain 
of  the  land-claims  filed,  and  in  favor  of  the  right  of  New  York 
to  the  western  territory,  on  the  ground  "that  all  the  lands 
belonging  to  the  Six  Nations  [of  which  these  were  claimed  to 
be  a  part]  and  their  tributaries  had  been  in  due  form  put  under 
the  protection  of  England  by  said  Six  Nations,  as  appendant 
to  the  late  government  of  New  York."  When  this  remarkable 
document  came  up  for  consideration,  May  1,  1782,  Theodoric 
Bland,  a  delegate  from  Virginia,  offered  the  following  resolution: 
"Resolved,  That  previous  to  any  determination  in  Congress 
relative  to  the  cessions  of  the  western  lands,  the  name  of  each 
member  present  be  called  over  by  the  secretary;  that  on  such 
call,  each  member  do  declare  upon  his  honor  whether  he  is  or 
is  not  personally  interested,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  claims 
of  any  company  or  companies  which  have  petitioned  against 
the  territorial  rights  of  any  of  the  states  by  whom  such  cessions 
have  been  made,  and  that  such  declarations  be  entered  upon 
the  Journal." 

The  legislative  squabble  which  not  unusually  follows  the  in- 
troduction into  Congress  of  unpalatable  measures  now  occurred. 
Motions  to  postpone  and    amend  were  made,  and   the  body 

*  "Journal  of  Congress,"  III,  535. 


CLAIMS   OF   VIRGINIA  AND   NEW   YORK.  IJJ 

adjourned  without  reaching  a  vote  on  Mr.  Bland's  proposition. 
The  next  day  its  consideration  was  declared  out  of  order;  but 
no  vote  upon  the  adoption  of  the  committee's  report  was  ever 
taken  in  Congress,  although  action  was  frequently  sought  by 
the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  as  the  journals  show.  On  Oct. 
29,  1782,  the  cession  of  New  York  was  formally  filed  and 
accepted  as  an  independent  proposition. 

After  failing  to  agree  upon  several  intervening  reports,  the 
whole  matter,  including  the  report  of  Nov.  3,  1781,  was  referred 
to  a  new  committee,  who  brought  in  what  proved  to  be  a  final 
report  on  Sept.  13,  1783,  in  which  the  entire  question  is  dis- 
cussed, and  the  proposition  of  Virginia  as  originally  made  was 
recommended  to  be  accepted  with  but  few,  and  those  imma- 
terial, modifications.  The  report  was  adopted,  and  on  March  I, 
1784,  the  deed  of  cession,  signed  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  Samuel 
Hardy,  Arthur  Lee,  and  James  Monroe,  was  presented,  formally 
executed,  and  accepted,  New  Jersey  alone  voting  in  the  nega- 
tive.* 

The  conditions  insisted  upon  by  Virginia  and  agreed  to 
before  the  cession  were:  That  the  expenses  incurred  by  the 
state  in  subduing  any  British  posts,  or  in  maintaining  forts  and 
garrisons  therein,  should  be  reimbursed  by  the  United  States; 
and  that  the  French  inhabitants  and  other  settlers  of  Kaskaskia 
and  neighboring  villages  who  had  become  citizens  of  Virginia 
should  have  their  possessions  and  titles  confirmed  to  them  and 
be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties;  and 
that  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land  promised 
by  the  state  should  be  allowed  and  granted  to  Gen.  George 
Rogers  Clark  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  regiment  who 
marched  with  him  when  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes  were  reduced, 
and  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  have  been  since  incorporated 
in  said  regiment,  to  be  laid  off  in  one  tract  and  to  be  divided 
among  said  officers  and  soldiers  in  due  proportion.  There  was 
also  another  stipulation  of  reservation  in  the  deed  relating  to 
the  "Virginia  Military  Lands"  in  Ohio. 

Without  regard  to  the  claim  of  Virginia  to  the  western  terri- 
tory by  virtue  of  ancient  charters,  which  it  is  not  necessary  here 
to  discuss,  her  claim   in   right  of  conquest  was  certainly  well 

*  "Journal  of  Congress,"  IV,  344. 
12 


178  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

founded,  if,  indeed,  it  was  not  unimpeachable.  The  Articles  of 
Confederation  (VI)  provided  that  "  no  state  shall  engage  in  any 
war  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assem- 
bled, unless  such  state  be  actually  invaded  by  enemies  or  shall 
have  received  certain  advice  of  a  resolution  being  formed  by 
some  nation  of  Indians  to  invade  such  state,  and  the  danger 
is  so  imminent  as  not  to  admit  of  delay."  Just  the  condition  of 
things  contemplated  by  this  article  existed  when,  in  1778, 
Virginia  organized  and  sent  the  expedition  under  Col.  George 
Rogers  Clark  which  reduced  the  posts  in  Illinois,  and  subse- 
quently held  them  by  Virginia  authority  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  They  had  been  in  possession  of  and  garrisoned  by  British 
forces,  and  were  continually  stirring  up  the  Indians  in  what  is 
now  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  to  make  hostile  and  murderous 
raids  into  Virginia.  These  were  constantly  occurring — the 
British  furnishing  not  only  men  to  assist,  but  ammunition  and 
supplies  to  maintain  the  invading  forces.  The  timely  campaign 
of  Col.  Clark  was  the  outgrowth  of  Virginia  foresight,  enterprise, 
and  valor,  and  Virginia  money  paid  the  bills.  But  for  this 
conquest  the  Northwest  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  would 
have  been  in  possession  of  the  British  and  would  doubtless  have 
so  remained,  as  did  Canada;  and  the  western  line  of  the  United 
States,  as  before  observed,  would  have  been  the  ridge  of  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  Ohio  River,  instead  of  the  channel  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  in  speak- 
ing of  this  title  says  "  the  grant  of  Virginia  contained  reserva- 
tions and  stipulations  which  could  only  be  made  by  the  owners 
of  the  soil."  * 

That  the  claim  of  New  York  through  the  Iroquois,  so  readily 
yielded  at  the  time,  was  presented  more  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  a  favorable  settlement  of  its  disputed  claim  to  the 
territory  of  Vermont,  or  to  serve  some  other  special  purpose, 
than  with  any  serious  belief  in  its  merits  is  more  than  probable. 

The  title  of  the  Indians  to  land  in  this  country  has  been  long 
settled  by  both  the  British  and  American  governments,  and  the 
adjudication  of  the  courts.  While  they  were  admitted  to  be 
rightful  occupants,  with  a  legal  and  just  claim  to  possession, 
they  never  acquired  any  proprietary  interests  in  the  vast  tracts 

*  "Wheaton,"  VIII,  593. 


CLAIMS   OF   VIRGINIA   AND   NEW   YORK.  1 79 

of  territory  over  which  they  wandered,  and  had  no  power  of 
alienation.  The  purchases  made  from  them  by  colonies  were 
merely  a  measure  of  policy  to  prevent  hostilities.*  The  claim 
of  the  Iroquois  to  western  lands,  although  that  confederacy  was 
never  backward  in  asserting  its  demands,  was  never  so  strongly 
urged  by  themselves  for  their  own  benefit  as  by  the  British 
government  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  its  controversy  with 
France,  which  brought  on  the  French -and -Indian  War.  The 
claim  of  the  Six  Nations  to  the  western  country  by  right  of 
conquest  before  1700  was  undoubtedly  an  afterthought.  They 
frequently  fixed  their  boundary  themselves,  and  in  the  year 
1744,  at  the  Lancaster  conference,  when  explicitly  requested  by 
the  governor  of  Virginia  to  define  the  extent  of  these  claims, 
either  original  or  as  acquired  by  conquest,  and  to  name  what 
nations  they  had  conquered  any  lands  from  in  Virginia,  replied 
that  it  was  the  territory  only  between  the  Potomac  and  the 
Warrior  Ridge,  and  was  bounded  by  the  lands  of  the  Susque- 
hanna and  Potomac  Indians,-f-  making  no  pretense  of  claim  to 
the  Wabash  or  Illinois  country. 

By  1763,  their  claim  by  conquest  had  grown  in  inverse  ratio 
to  their  power,  which  had  been  steadily  waning.  It  extended, 
according  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  as  far  west  as  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio,  and  thence  northerly  to  the  south  end  of  Lake  Michigan.^ 
The  nations  claimed  to  have  been  subdued  were  the  Shawnees, 
Delawares,  Miamis,  and  other  Western  Indians,  who  had  become 
their  tributaries.  As  to  the  Delawares,  the  assertion  had  some 
semblance  of  truth,  but  none  whatever  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
others.  While  the  Iroquois  had  on  several  occasions,  by  reason 
of  their  having  been  supplied  with  firearms,  successfully  attacked 
the  Illinois  tribes  and  at  one  time  driven  them  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  the  latter  never  failed  in  any  year  to  reoccupy  their 
old  camping-grounds,  and  frequently  defeated  and  drove  back 
their  ancient  foes.  So  far  from  conquering  the  Miamis,  the 
latter  were  able  not  only  to  take  care  of  themselves  at  home, 
but  to  attack  their  enemies  on  their  own  ground,  where  they  so 
roughly  handled  them  as  to  compel  them  to  fly  to  the  governor 

*  "Wheaton,"  VIII,  595. 

+  Colden's  "History  of  the  Five  Nations,"  II,  81. 

J  "Pennsylvania  Archives, "  VI,  602. 


l8o  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

of  New  York  for  help.  While  a  few  of  the  Shawnees  acknowl- 
edged for  a  time  a  limited  dependency  upon  the  Iroquois,  they 
early  threw  off  the  yoke  and  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of 
the  French  against  them.  All  the  Western  Indians,  including 
the  Miamis  and  Shawnees,  formed  an  independent  alliance 
under  Pontiac  in  1762,  claiming  to  own  the  territory  of  the 
Northwest  themselves,  and  it  was  in  support  of  this  claim  that 
they  went  to  war  under  the  great  Ottawa  chieftain. 

At  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  in  1768,  however,  the  claims 
of  the  Iroquois,  real  as  well  as  pretended,  including  those  by 
right  of  conquest,  were  fully  considered,  and  that  nation's 
boundary  was  definitely  established  as  follows:  "We  begin  at 
the  Ohio  at  the  mouth,  of  the  Cherokee  River,  which  is  our  just 
right,  and  from  thence  we  go  up  on  the  south  side  of  the  Ohio 
to  Kittaning,  above  Fort  Pitt;  from  thence  in  a  direct  line  to 
the  forks  of  the  Susquehanah,"  and  thence  by  various  courses 
as  described,  northward  to  Fort  Stanwix.  "And  this  we  declare 
to  be  our  final  resolves."* 

Thus  was  effectually  concluded  whatever  claim  New  York 
had  to  any  portion  of  the  western  lands  by  reason  of  her  alleged 
protectorate  over  the  Iroquois.  And  the  assurance  of  the  com- 
mittee in  endorsing  a  claim  so  attenuated  is  equaled  only  by 
the  apparent  obliviousness  of  facts  shown  by  attempts  at  this 
late  day  to  revive  the  alleged  reasons  originally  advanced  in  its 
support. 

Other  deeds  of  cession  to  the  United  States  were  made  as 

follows:     By  Massachusetts,  April   19,    1785,  including  a  strip 

about  eighty  miles  in  width,  beginning  at  the  western  boundary 

of  New  York  from  420  2'  north   latitude  to  430  43'  12"  across 

the  country  to  the  Mississippi  River.     By  Connecticut,  Sept.  13, 

1786,  including  a  strip  of  land  about  sixty-two  miles  in  width, 

commencing  west  of  a  meridian  passing  one  hundred  and  twenty 

miles  west  of  the  west  boundary  of  Pennsylvania  and  extending 

westward  from  41  °  to  420  2'  north  latitude,  running  also  to  the 

Mississippi    River.      By   South   Carolina,  Aug.  9,    1787,  to  the 

*  "Colonial  History  of  New  York,"  VIII,  136.  A  second  treaty  of  Fort  Stan- 
wix, concluded  with  the  United  States,  Oct.  22,  1784,  and  subsequently  reaffirmed 
by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar,  Jan.  9,  17S9,  still  farther  restricted  the  boundary 
of  the  Six  Nations,  and  declared  in  express  terms  that  they  yielded  all  claims  to 
the  country  west  of  the  western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  north  of  the  Ohio. 


CESSIONS   AND   PURCHASES. 


181 


northern  portions  of  the  present  states  of  Georgia,  Alabama, 
and  Mississippi.  By  North  Carolina,  Feb.  25,  1790,  under  our 
present  constitution,  to  what  is  now  the  State  of  Tennessee. 
And  by  Georgia,  April  24,  1802,  to  a  strip  lying  west  of  its 
western  boundary  and  to  the  Mississippi  River,  between  paral- 
lels 3i°and  340  41' north  latitude  in  the  states  of  Mississippi 
and  Alabama. 

And  thus  it  was  through  these  several  cessions  by  seven 
states  of  the  original  thirteen  that  the  United  States  consum- 
mated its  title  to  the  public  domain  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River.* 

*  The  area  and  number  of  acres  thus  acquired  is  shown  by  the  following  table : 

DATE.  SQUARE  MILES.        ACRES.  COST. 

Massachusetts  j  claimed  and  disputed,  includ-  I  Apr.  19,  1785,  54,ox>  34,500,000 

Connecticut       ~\    ed  in  Va.  cession,  estimated  )  Sep.  13,  1786, 

New  York  and  Massachusetts,  actual,  Mar.  1,  1781, 

Virginia,  disputed  and  undisputed,  exclusive 

of  Kentucky,  western  reserve,  and  fire  lands,  Mar.  1,  1784, 

Connecticut,  western  reserve  and  fire  lands,     Sept.  13,  1786, 
South  Carolina,  ....        Aug.  9,  1787, 

North  Carolina,  nominal,  the  area  of  Tennessee 

being  almost  covered  with  reservations,  Feb.  25,  1790, 

Georgia,  .....      Apr.  24,  1802, 

By  adding  to  the  foregoing  the  subsequent  purchases 

by  the  United  States,  the  entire  extent  and  cost  of 

the  public  domain  is  shown,  as  follows : 

The  Louisiana  purchase  from  France, 

East  and  West  Florida  from  Spain, 

Mexican  acquisition  by  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo,  - 

The  State  of  Texas,  Sept.,  1850,  $8,500,000: 
1855,  $7,500,000,  ... 

The  Gadsden  purchase  from  Mexico, 

Alaska,  from  Russia,  ... 

Making  a  grand  total  of 

Expenses  of  surveys,  to  June,  1880,        .......  $24,468,691 

Expenses  of  executive  and  administrative  departments,  to  June,  1880,  partly  estimated,  22,094,611 
Amount  paid  to  extinguish  Indian  titles,  annuities,  and  expenses,  to  June,  1880,  187,338,904 


40,000 

25,600,000 

315 

202,187 

259,625 

166,159,680 

5.937 

3,800,000 

4,900 

3,136,000 

45,600 
88,578 

„            /'paid  Yazoo 
29,184.000   |  •     SCrip 

56,689,920  -i      claims, 

404,955 

259.I7I>787 

Apr.  30, 

1803, 

1,182,752 

756,961,280 

$27,267,621 

Feb.  22, 

1819, 

59, 268 

37,931,520 

6,489,768 

Feb.  2, 

1848, 

522,568 

334.443.S20 

15,000,000 

Feb.  28, 

1855. 

96,707 

61,892,480 

16,000,000 

Dec.  30, 

1853, 

45.535 

29,142,400 

10,000,000 

Mar.  30, 

1867, 

577.393 

369,529,600 

7.200,000 

- 

2,889,175 

1,849,072,587 

$88,157,389 

Total  cost,  to  June,  1880, 
Sold  at  New  York  to  June  30,  1796,  1,484,047  acres. 
Sold  since  at  public  sale,  net  receipts,  to  June,  1880, 

Total  cost  above  receipts  to  June,  1880,    - 


$1,201,725 
199,501.124 


-    $322,049,595 
200,702,849 


$121,345,746 


There  remained  unsold,  June  30,  1880  (not  including  Alaska),  791,178,438  acres, 
which  were  valued,  according  to  the  testimony  and  estimates  in  the  report  of  the 
public-land  commissioner,  Feb.  24,  1880,  at  $1,159,921,261. — Compiled  principally 
from  "The  Public  Domain;  Its  History,  with  Statistics.  By  Thomas  Donaldson. 
Washington,  1884."     Published  as  a  congressional  document. 


1 82  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The  United  States  having  thus  acquired  the  ownership  of  the 
public  lands  heretofore  belonging  to  the  respective  states,  it 
became  necessary  to  provide  for  their  disposition.  Three  prob- 
lems presented  themselves  requiring  an  immediate  solution: 
First,  what  plan  to  adopt  for  their  survey  and  sale;  second,  how 
to  provide  satisfactorily  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  claim  of 
the  Indians  thereto;  and  third,  what  form  of  government  should 
be  adopted  for  the  people  residing  thereon.  Each  of  these 
questions  presented  grave  difficulties,  but  that  relating  to  the 
title  of  the  red  man  was  the  greatest.  It  confronted  Congress 
at  the  beginning,  and  out  of  it  grew  those  Indian  wars  which 
marked  the  bloody  period  of  pioneer  settlements  in  the  entire 
Northwest.  Its  adjustment  involved  the  expenditure  of  mil- 
lions of  money  and  the  sacrifice  of  thousands  of  lives. 

The  first  law  passed  by  Congress  on  the  subject  of  the  dis- 
posal of  the  public  lands  was  dated  May  20,  1785,  and  provided 
for  a  survey,  and  after  setting  apart  one-seventh  part  for  the 
use  of  the  Continental  army,  and  making  reservations  for  school 
purposes,  and  providing  for  the  division  of  the  remainder  among 
the  original  thirteen  states,  for  their  sale;  but  failing  to  answer 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  framed,  it  was  in  its  main  features 
repealed  by  the  ordinance  passed  July  9,  1788. 

The  system  of  land-surveys  authorized  by  this  law,  and  which 
have  been  continued  ever  since,  is  called  the  rectangular.  From 
the  principal  bases,  townships  six  miles  square  were  to  be  laid 
out  and  established,  each  containing  thirty- six  sections  one  mile 
square,  numbered  from  one  to  thirty-six,  beginning  at  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  township,  each  section  to  contain  six  hundred 
and  forty  acres.  Principal  meridians  and  bases  were  initiated 
as  follows:  The  first  principal  meridian,  coincident  with  840  51' 
of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich,  divides  the  states  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  having  for  its  base  the  Ohio  River.  The  second, 
coincident  with  longitude  86°  28'  governs  the  surveys  in  Indiana 
and  a  portion  of  those  in  Illinois.  The  third,  coincident  with 
longitude  890  10'  30",  governs  the  surveys  in  Illinois  east  of  said 
meridian,  with  the  exception  of  those  lands  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Illinois  River.  The  fourth  begins  in  the  middle  of  the 
channel  of  the  Illinois  River  at  its  mouth,  in  latitude  380  58'  12" 
north,  and  longitude  900  29'  56"  west,  governs  the  surveys  in 


FIRST   SURVEYS.  1 83 

Illinois  west  of  the  Illinois  River  and  west  of  the  third  principal 
meridian  north  of  said  river.  Other  meridians  were  initiated 
for  other  states  and  territories  westward  as  the  surveys  required. 

The  first  officer  in  charge  of  the  surveys  of  the  public  lands 
was  Thomas  Hutchins,  who  was  appointed  under  the  law  of 
1785,  and  was  called  the  geographer.  He  had  been  a  captain 
in  a  British  regiment — Sixtieth  Royal,  and  was  assistant-engi- 
neer in  Bouquet's  expedition.  He  was  for  a  time  stationed  at 
Fort  Chartres,  but  when  the  Revolution  broke  out,  being 
strongly  in  sympathy  with  the  colonists,  he  relinquished  his 
position.  In  1779,  he  was  imprisoned  in  London  on  a  charge 
of  being  in  treasonable  correspondence  with  Benjamin  Franklin. 
After  his  release  he  proceeded  to  Charleston,  and  joined  the 
army  of  Gen.  Greene.  He  was  the  author  of  a  "Topographical 
Description  of  Virginia,"  and  several  other  valuable  works.* 

It  is  claimed  for  him  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  plan  of 
surveys  adopted  by  congress,  and  to  him  was  committed  the 
task  of  putting  it  into  successful  operation,  which  he  performed 
with  remarkable  care,  patience,  and  ability.  His  work  and 
descriptions  of  the  country  surveyed  by  him  are  of  great  value. 
Rufus  Putnam  was  the  first  surveyor-general,  so  called,  and  was 
appointed  under  the  act  of  1796,  creating  the  office.  No  lands 
were  disposed  of  under  the  law  of  1785. 

*  He  was  born  in  Monmouth,  N.T.,  in  1730,  and  died  in  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  April 
2S,  1789,  where  his  remains  now  lie  unnoticed  in  the  cemetery  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church. — Allen's  "American  Biographical  and  Historical  Dictionary." 
■"  Ohio  Surveys, "  Tract,  No.  59. 

Authorities:  "The  Public  Domain"  (cong.  doc),  by  Thomas  Donaldson;  "Jour- 
nals and  Laws  of  Congress";  early  Illinois  pamphlets;  "United-States  Supreme-court 
Reports";  Cadwallader  Colden's  "History  of  the  Five  Nations,"  3d  ed. ;  "Pennsyl- 
vania Archives";  "Colonial  History  of  New  York." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Ordinance  of  1787 — First  Sales  of  Public  Lands. 

THE  necessity  in  the  meantime  of  providing  the  people  of 
the  Northwest  Territory  with  the  means  of  governmental 
protection  became  apparent  and  even  urgent.  Accordingly,  on 
March  1,  1784,  a  committee,  of  which  Thomas  Jefferson  was 
chairman,  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  for  the  temporary 
government  of  the  western  territory.  The  report  submitted 
by  Jefferson  proposed  to  divide  the  territory  into  seven 
states,  to  be  named  as  follows:  Sylvania,  Michigania,  Cher- 
sonesus,  Assenisipia,  Metropotamia,  Polypotamia,  and  Poli- 
sipia;  and  among  other  things  it  was  provided  that  after  the 
year  1800,  "there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servi- 
tude in  any  of  the  said  states  otherwise  than  in  punishment  of 
crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  This 
was  recommitted,  but  the  second  report  agreed  in  substance 
with  the  first,  omitting  the  names  given  to  states.  The  anti- 
slavery  clause,  failing  to  secure  a  majority  of  states  for  its 
retention,  was  striken  out.  The  report  was  then  adopted,  April 
23,  in  the  form  of  a  resolution.  Provision  was  made  for  the 
organization  of  states  by  the  people,  but  it  was  left  to  congress 
to  provide  such  measures  for  the  preservation  of  peace  and 
good  order  among  the  settlers  as  "  might  from  time  to  time  be 
taken."     No  such  action,  however,  was  taken  by  congress. 

The  resolutions  of  1784  having  failed  to  serve  any  practical 
purpose,  remaining  in  fact  inoperative,  the  inhabitants  of  Kas- 
kaskia  in  August,  1786,  petitioned  congress  to  provide  some 
means  by  which  they  could  form  a  better  government.  That 
body  directed  its  secretary  to  reply  "  that  congress  have  under 
consideration  the  plan  of  a  temporary  government  for  said 
district,  and  that  its  adoption  will  no  longer  be  protracted  than 
the  importance  of  the  subject  and  due  regard  to  their  interests 
may  require." 

On  Sept.  19,  1786,  the  plan  above  referred  to  was  reported 
to  congress,  and  after  some  discussion  its  further  consideration 

184 


PRELIMINARY   LEGISLATION.  l8$ 

was  postponed.  On  April  29,  1787,  the  same  committee  re- 
ported another  measure,  which  was  read  a  second  time  and 
ordered  to  a  third  reading  on  May  10.  On  that  date,  however, 
action  was  again  postponed.  It  contained  none  of  those  declar- 
ations in  favor  of  freedom  and  human  rights  which  distinguished 
the  ordinance  afterward  adopted. 

After  these  repeated  delays,  all  at  once  the  situation  was 
changed.  Apathy  gave  place  to  interest,  and  inaction  to  earnest 
effort,  and  the  greatest  work  of  the  Continental  Congress  was 
soon  to  be  accomplished.  The  influence  which  produced  this 
desirable  result  grew  out  of  a  plan  to  purchase  western  lands. 
A  number  of  gentlemen  in  New  England,  nearly  all  of  them 
ex-officers  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  owning  large  amounts  of 
government  certificates  of  indebtedness,  then  not  marketable, 
the  previous  year  had  organized  themselves  into  a  company 
for  the  purpose  of  converting  their  paper  into  land,  with  which 
the  government  was  decidedly  better  supplied  than  with  money 
to  pay  its  debts.  The  most  able  and  active  member  of  the 
company  was  sent  to  New  York  to  conduct  the  negotiations. 
This  was  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  D.  D.,  a  distinguished  New- 
England  divine  who  had  served  sometime  as  a  regimental 
chaplain.  He  was  a  ripe  scientist,  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  a 
man  of  large  experience.  His  person  was  commanding  and  his 
address  as  courteous  as  his  oratory  was  convincing.  His  asso- 
ciates in  the  company,  generals  James  Mitchell  Varnum,  Samuel 
Holden  Parsons,  Benjamin  Tappan,  colonels  Rufus  Putnam,  and 
Ebenezer  Sproat,  and  Maj.  Winthrop  Sargeant,  were  all  men 
of  influence  and  ability.  Gen.  Parsons  had  presented  to  con- 
gress the  memorial  embodying  the  proposed  plan  of  exchanging 
scrip  for  land  the  previous  May. 

Dr.  Cutler  arrived  in  New  York  on  July  5,  and  at  once 
entered  upon  the  work  assigned  him.  He  sought  to  impress 
upon  members  not  only  the  advantage  of  the  proposed  ex- 
change, but  also  how  essential  it  was  that  a  proper  founda- 
tion for  a  good  system  of  government  should  be  laid  for 
the  people  who  should  reside  in  the  Far-West  where  the  land 
desired  by  the  New- England  creditors  of  the  government 
was  situated,  and  without  which  the  grant,  if  made,  would 
be  worthless.     He  even  insisted  that  this  was  the  first  thing 


1 86  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

demanding  consideration;  and  as  that  subject  was  then  occu- 
pying the  attention  of  congress,  the  doctor  became  very  busy. 
He  interviewed  Gen.  Arthur  St.  Clair — president  of  congress, 
and  other  leading  members  of  that  body,  besides  capital- 
ists and  prominent  citizens.  The  first- fruit  of  his  efforts  was 
the  appointment,  on  July  9,  of  a  new  committee,  composed 
mostly  of  fresh  material :  Edward  Carrington  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee  of  Virginia,  John  Kean  of  South  Carolina — new 
members ;  Nathan  Dane  of  Massachusetts,  and  Melancthon 
Smith  of  New  York — old  members.  The  bill  as  it  then  stood 
was  submitted  to  Dr.  Cutler  "with  leave,"  as  he  says  "to  make 
remarks  and  propose  amendments."  These  he  reported,  and 
having  favorably  presented  his  proposition  and  put  new  life  into 
the  proposed  ordinance,  on  July  10,  he  departed  for  Philadel- 
phia, where  the  Constitutional  convention  was  in  session. 

The  time  for  dilatory  proceedings  had  now  passed.  Here 
was  an  opportunity  presented  to  congress  to  discharge  several 
millions  of  dollars  of  the  Nation's  indebtedness  in  exchange  for 
lands  on  the  frontier,  which  could  not  be  expected  to  have  any 
market  value  for  years  if  left  to  the  natural  course  of  events; 
and  also  to  interpose  a  bulwark  of  settlements  against  Indian 
invasions  of  Virginia,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  which 
opportunities  ought  not  to  be  neglected.  An  enactment  for 
the  government  of  the  people  of  the  proposed  new  settlement 
which  would  be  satisfactory  to  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise 
was  a  prerequisite  which  ought  not  to  be  withheld  or  deferred. 

The  committee  went  to  work  in  earnest,  and  the  new  ordi- 
nance as  prepared  was  reported  to  congress  and  read  on  July 
11.  The  next  day  it  was  read  a  second  time  and  amended  by 
the  insertion  of  the  sixth  article;  and  on  the  day  following, 
July  13,  it  was  passed,  receiving  the  unanimous  vote  of  eight 
states,  to  wit :  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  Delaware,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  all 
that  were  present.  A  majority  of  these  were  slave-states — 
indeed,  slaves  were  held  in  all  the  states  except  Massachusetts. 
But  slavery  had  not  yet  become  a  political  question,  and  many 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  Southern  States  were  strongly 
opposed  to  its  existence  and  had  so  expressed  themselves. 
While  they  would  not  favor  the  emancipation  of  slaves  in  their 


PASSAGE   OF   THE   ORDINANCE.  1 87 

own  states,  it  was  not  difficult  for  them  to  consent  to  its  exclu- 
sion from  the  Northwest  Territory.  Grayson  of  Virginia,  ex- 
plained his  vote  by  saying  that  the  anti-slavery  clause  in  the 
ordinance  would  prevent  the  raising  of  tobacco,  cotton,  and 
indicro  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  Other  Southern  members 
were  no  doubt  influenced  by  similar  considerations. 

This  celebrated  enactment,  justly  distinguished  as  the  great 
"American  charter,"  and  which  in  the  centennial  year  of  its 
adoption  was  the  subject  of  renewed  encomiums,  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  compact,  and  older  than  the  constitution  itself. 
While  the  object  primarily  sought  to  be  obtained  by  its  passage 
was  the  provision  of  a  government  for,  and  the  encouragement 
of  the  settlement  of,  a  vast  territory  destined  to  expand  into 
future  states,  congress  seized  upon  the  opportunity  thus  offered 
to  engraft  upon  the  organic  law,  by  legislative  enactment,  the 
fundamental  principles  of  human  freedom  and  equal  rights,  of 
which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  formed  the  grandest 
statement  which  the  world  had  yet  seen.  The  ordinance  vital- 
ized and  put  into  practical  operation  those  eternal  truths  which 
the  Declaration  stated  only  doctrinally,  upon  which  the  Ameri- 
can government  was  founded  and  upon  the  preservation  and 
maintenance  of  which  its  existence  alone  depends. 

Daniel  Webster  said  of  it:  "We  are  accustomed  to  praise  the 
law-givers  of  antiquity;  we  help  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of 
Solon  and  Lycurgus ;  but  I  doubt  whether  one  single  law, 
ancient  or  modern,  has  produced  effects  of  more  distinct, 
marked,  and  lasting  character  than  the  Ordinance  of  1787." 
Chief-Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase,  while  governor  of  Ohio,  spoke 
of  it  as  follows:  "Never,  probably,  in  the  history  of  the  world 
did  a  measure  of  legislation  so  accurately  fulfil,  and  yet  so 
mightily  exceed  the  anticipations  of  the  legislators.  It  has 
been  well  described  as  having  been  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and 
of  fire  by  night  in  the  settlement  and  government  of  the  North- 
western States." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  question  of  authorship  of  so 
important  a  document  should  have  awakened  more  than  ordi- 
nary interest.  And  here  it  must  be  noted  that  the  era  in  which 
it  was  produced  was  remarkable  alike  for  its  discussion  of  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  rights  of  man,  and  for  the  advancement  made 


1 88  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

in  theories  of  human  government.  It  was  a  period  of  bold 
thought  and  searching  investigation.  The  splendid  rhetoric  of 
Edmund  Burke,  the  unanswerable  logic  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
the  keen  satire  of  Thomas  Paine,  and  the  profound  philosophy 
of  Benjamin  Franklin  revolutionized  public  sentiment.  Old 
ideas  of  the  prerogative  of  kings,  hereditary  rights,  and  class 
legislation,  with  their  attendant  train  of  suffering  and  oppres- 
sion were  shown  to  be  untenable.  Man  was  lifted  up  to  a 
higher  plane,  where  his  eyes  were  opened  to  a  clearer  concep- 
tion of  his  rights,  no  less  than  of  his  duties  and  obligations. 

It  was,  therefore,  in  line  of  the  thought  of  the  age  that  in 
providing  for  the  government  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  magnifi- 
cent domain,  lately  acquired  by  the  general  government,  all 
the  benefits — social,  political,  and  educational  —  derived  from 
enlarged  views  of  freedom  and  culture  should  be  extended  to 
them  and  embodied  in  their  fundamental  law.  The  principles 
announced  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  remaining  there 
without  form  of  law  to  enforce  them  would  indeed  have  proved 
to  be  merely  "glittering  generalities."  But  they  had  already  been 
vitalized  by  enactment  into  the  constitutions  of  Virginia,  Penn- 
sylvania, New  York,  North  Carolina,  Maryland,  Georgia,  New 
Hampshire,  and  especially  in  Massachusetts.  In  all  of  these 
instruments  articles  were  adopted  in  favor  of  religious  liberty, 
the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the  trial  by  jury,  estab- 
lishing the  common  law,  the  right  to  bail,  that  fines  should  be 
moderate,  and  that  no  man  should  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law,  and  that  full  compensation 
should  be  made  for  private  property  taken  for  public  uses. 

In  the  constitutions  of  Massachusetts,  Georgia,  Pennsylvania, 
North  Carolina,  and  New  Hampshire  provision  was  made  for 
the  establishment  of  public-schools  and  their  support  by  the 
state.  In  Massachusetts,  almost  the  precise  language  was  used 
as  that  in  the  ordinance,  the  statement  being,  "  the  happiness  of 
the  people  and  the  good  order  and  preservation  of  civil  govern- 
ment essentially  depend  upon  piety,  religion,  and  morality." 
"Wisdom  and  knowledge  as  well  as  virtue  diffused  generally 
among  the  body  of  the  people  being  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  rights  and  liberties." 

In  regard  to  real  property,  it  repealed  the  leading  features  of 


AUTHORSHIP   OF   THE   ORDINANCE.  1 89 

feudalism  by  which  all  lands  before  the  Revolution  were  held 
by  socage  tenure,  denoting  a  fixed  and  determined  service.* 
In  thus  providing  for  the  free  and  unconditional  alienation  of 
the  public  lands  by  the  general  government,  and  for  the  equal 
distribution  of  estates  among  the  descendants  of  intestates  and 
their  dispositon  by  will,  as  against  the  English  laws  of  primo- 
geniture, and  the  alienation  of  real  estate  by  lease  and  release 
or  bargain  and  sale  by  deed,  in  fee  simple,  "it  struck  the  key- 
note of  our  liberal  system  of  land  laws,  not  only  in  the  states 
formed  out  of  the  public  domain,  but  also  in  the  older  states. "*f- 

But  even  these  important  provisions,  although  not  so  broadly 
and  clearly  shaped,  were  already  contained  in  the  Constitution 
of  Georgia,  (Art.  II.) 

It  appears,  in  fact,  that  some  of  the  most  important  declara- 
tions of  rights  contained  in  these  early  constitutions,  and  since 
reenacted,  were  not  included  in  the  ordinance,  namely:  the 
liberty  of  the  press,  the  right  of  free-speech,  the  right  of  peti- 
tion, the  freedom  of  elections,  the  right  to  bear  arms,  and 
the  prohibition  of  ex-post-facto  laws. 

The  proposition  that  certain  articles  should  be  considered  as 
a  compact  between  the  original  States  and  the  people  and  States 
in  the  said  territory,  seems  to  have  originated  with  Jefferson. 
It  was  in  the  ordinance  reported  by  him  in  1784.  This  ordin- 
ance also  contained  an  article  of  which  Jefferson  was  the  author, 
prohibiting  slavery  in  any  state  to  be  formed  out  of  said  terri- 
tory after  the  year  1800;  but  Jefferson,  in  1787,  was  our  min- 
ister to  France,  and  took  no  part  in  the  later  enactment.  In 
1785,  Rufus  King  of  New  York,  introduced  a  resolution  as  a 
supplement  to  the  ordinance  of  1784,  providing  for  the  pro- 
hibition of  slavery  in  the  States  to  be  formed  out  of  said  terri- 
tory.    It  was  referred  to  a  committee  and  never  reported  upon. 

That  portion,  therefore,  of  Art.  VI.  which  prohibited  slavery 
in  the  territory  was  new.  The  original  draft  was  in  Mr.  Dane's 
handwriting,  as  indeed  was  the  entire  instrument,  and  he  says 
in  his  letter  to  Rufus  King  that  "when  I  drew  the  ordinance, 
which  passed,  a  few  words  excepted,  as  I  originally  formed  it, 
I  had  no  idea  the  States  would  agree  to  the  Sixth  Article,  as 
only  Massachusetts    of  the    Eastern    States   was    present,  and 

*  Kent,  III,  527.  t  Com'r,  J.  S.  Wilson. 


190  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

therefore  omitted  it  in  the  draft ;  but  finding  the  House  favor- 
ably disposed  on  the  subject  after  we  had  completed  the  other 
parts,  I  moved  the  Article  which  was  agreed  to  without  opposi- 
tion." 

On  the  other  hand,  Judge  Ephraim  Cutler,  son  of  the  doctor, 
tells  us  that  while  on  a  visit  to  his  father,  then  a  member  of 
Congress,  at  Washington,  in  1804,  having  informed  him  that  he 
had  prepared  the  anti-slavery  clause  of  the  Ohio  constitution, 
his  father  stated  in  response,  that  it  was  a  singular  coincidence, 
as  he  himself  (the  doctor)  had  prepared  that  part  of  the  Ordin- 
ance of  1787  while  he  was  in  New  York  negotiating  the  pur- 
chase of  lands  for  the  Ohio  Company. 

In  regard  to  other  clauses,  the  doctor  informs  us  in  his  diary 
that  on  his  return  from  Philadelphia,  July  19,  he  found  that  the 
ordinance  which  had  been  adopted  had  been  "  in  a  degree  new- 
modeled,"  but  that  the  amendments  proposed  by  him  had  all 
been  made  except  one,  which  related  to  taxation.  These,  as 
claimed  by  him,  it  appears,  were  the  provisions  relating  to 
religion,  education,  and  slavery.* 

The  provisions  of  the  ordinance  which  were  distinctly  new, 
in  addition  to  article  six,  were  as  follows  : 

The  plan  for  the  organization  of  a  civil  government  for 
the  northwestern  territory  was  a  venture  into  an  entirely  new 
field.  The  grant  of  power  to  the  people  was,  however,  not 
very  liberal.  Every  office  of  the  territory  was  to  be  filled 
by  appointment,  and  the  incumbents  were  required  to  be 
land  owners.  The  minimum  was  a  free-hold  estate  therein  of 
five  hundred  acres  each  by  the  secretary  and  judges,  and  one 
thousand  acres  by  the  governor.  All  "magistrates  and  other 
civil  officers  "  were  appointed  by  the  governor,  who,  with  the 
judges  made  the  laws,  until  the  territory  rose  to  the  second 
grade.  The  elective  franchise,  only  to  be  exercised  after  the 
territory  had  obtained  five  thousand  inhabitants,  was  confined 
to  the  election  of  members  of  the  general  assembly.  A  repre- 
sentative was  required  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  a 
resident  of  the  district,  and  the  owner  of  two  hundred  acres  of 
land  ;  while  an  elector  must  be  the  owner  of  fifty  acres. 

Both  reflection    and  experience    demonstrated  the  fact  that 

*  Cutler's  "Life  of  Rev.  Manaseh  Cutler,"  I.,  342-3. 


FIRST    SALES   OF    PUBLIC   LANDS.  191 

these  provisions  were  too  narrow,  and  the  ordinance  was 
amended  in  1809  so  that  the  people  were  authorized  to  elect 
a  council,  theretofore  appointed  by  the  president  and  a  member 
of  congress,  previously  chosen  by  the  Legislature;  and  in  1811, 
the  right  of  suffrage  was  extended  to  all  those  who  paid  a  tax 
and  resided  one  year  in  the  territory. 

The  other  provisions  of  the  ordinance  which  were  new,  were 
(1)  the  clause  in  regard  to  the  inviolability  of  private  contracts; 
and  (2)  that  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the  Indians.  The 
claim  of  originality  by  Dane  to  both  of  these,  seems  to  be  well 
founded,  and  has  not,  indeed,  been  seriously  questioned.  That 
the  committee  was  greatly  benefited  and  assisted  by  the  sug- 
gestions and  personal  influence  of  Dr.  Cutler,  during  the  final 
preparation  of  the  ordinance,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But  the 
eminent  services  of  the  able  Dane,  who,  in  his  official  capacity 
as  a  member  of  congress,  prepared  and  aided  in  securing  the 
passage  of  the  document,  can  not  be  over  estimated  by  the 
millions  of  people  who  are  now  reaping  and  enjoying  the  bene- 
fits of  its  wise  provisions. 

Having  shown  how  the  public  domain  was  acquired,  the 
system  of  surveys  established,  and  the  provision  made  for  the 
government  of  the  inhabitants  residing  thereon,  a  brief  space 
will  now  be  devoted  to  the  plan  adopted  for  its  disposition. 

The  first  sale  of  land  after  the  passage  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  was  made  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  congress,  July  23,  the 
same  year,  instructing  the  Board  of  Treasury  to  contract  for 
the  sale  of  the  large  tract  to  the  Ohio  Land  Company,  of  822,- 
900  acres,  receiving  therefor  certificates  of  ownership  and  army 
land-warrants  valued  at  $642,859.  This  was  followed  by  one 
to  John  Cleves  Symmes,  of  272,540  acres,  for  which  he  and  his 
associates  paid  $189,643;  and  by  another  to  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, of  202,187  acres.  All  other  sales  of  public  lands  of 
the  United  States  were  made  under  general  laws."* 

On  May  19,  1796,  an  act  was  passed  by  congress  for  the  sale 
of  lands  in  Ohio;  but  the  general  system  finally  adopted, 
under  which  all  the  public  lands  have  been  since  disposed  of, 
was  embraced  in  the  act  of  May  10,  1800,  the  credit  for 
originating  which   is    due   to   the   profound    thought,  and    far- 

*  "Public  Domain,"  17,  197-8. 


192  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

reaching  sagacity  of  that  eminent  financier  and  statesman, 
Alexander  Hamilton.  The  subject  having  been  referred  to  him 
as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  he  presented  a  report  in  which  he 
recommended  the  establishment  of  a  general  land-office,  the 
appointment  of  a  surveyor-general,  and  all  the  other  prominent 
features  embodied  in  the  act  last  named.  Provision  was  made 
for  receivers  and  registers;  the  lands  were  to  be  offered  at  pub- 
lic sale  in  lots  of  320  and  640  acres,  and  at  not  less  than  two 
dollars  per  acre,  one-fourth  of  the  purchase  money  to  be  paid 
within  40  days  and  the  remaining  three-fourths  in  two,  three, 
and  four  years,  with  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent  per 
annum  on  the  deferred  payments. 

Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  in  question,  the  only  portion 
of  the  public  domain  sold  had  been  in  Ohio.  The  sales  had 
aggregated  1,484,047  acres,  for  which  there  had  been  paid  into 
the  Treasury  the  sum  of  $1,201,725* 

Amendments  were  made  to  the  law  of  May  10,  1800,  at 
various  times,  extending  the  time  of  payments,  and  providing 
for  sales  in  smaller  quantities  than  320  acres,  until  in  1820  the 
credit  system  was  abolished  and  sales  of  eighty-acre  lots  per- 
mitted, and  the  price  fixed  at  $1.25  per  acre.  Subsequently 
entries  also  were  allowed  for  forty-acre  lots.  Under  the  credit 
system  there  had  been  sold  in  Illinois  1,593,247  acres. 

In  every  instance  the  following  tracts  were  excepted  from 
sale:  (1)  One  thirty-sixth  portion  (640  acres)  of  each  township 
for  the  support  of  schools.  (2)  Seven  entire  townships,  viz: 
Two  in  Ohio  and  one  each  in  the  territories  of  Michigan,  Indi- 
ana, Illinois,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  were  reserved  for  the 
support  of  seminaries  of  learning.  (3)  All  salt-springs  and  lead- 
mines  were  also  reserved,  but  might  be  leased  by  the  president. 

*  "Public  Domain,"  17. 

Authorities:  Laws  and  Journals  of  Congress;  Article  in  "North  American 
Review,"  April,  1876,  by  W.  F.  Poole;  "The  St.  Clair  Papers,"  by  W.  H.  Smith; 
"Life,  Journal  and  Correspondence  of  Manasseh  Cutler,"  by  W.  P.  and  J.  P. 
Cutler;  "Charters  and  Constitutions,"  by  Ben.  Perley  Poore;  "The  Public  Do- 
main," Congressional  Document. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

As  a  Part  of  the  Northwest  Territory — Illinois  Merged 
into  St.  Clair  County — First  Officers — Land-Titles  in 
Illinois  —  Indian  Disturbances  —  St.  Clair's  Defeat  — 
Randolph  County  —  Early  Attempts  to  Dismember 
the  American  Union,  1789-1800. 

THE  chronological  sequence  of  events  having  been  broken 
somewhat  in  the  two  foregoing  chapters,  it  will  now  be 
resumed  before  taking  up  the  subject  of  Indian  treaties. 

A  plan  for  the  government  of  the  Northwest  Territory  hav- 
ing been  formulated  and  adopted  by  congress,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  appoint  officers  to  administer  it. 

This  question  had  already  received  some  consideration,  even 
at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  That 
famous  statute  and  the  act  authorizing  the  sale  of  western  lands 
were  in  charge  of  congressional  committees  whose  personnel  was 
almost  identical,  both  having  the  same  chairman,  and  three  of 
the  members  of  one  being  also  members  of  the  other.  It  soon 
transpired  that  the  parties  interested  in  the  Ohio  Land  Com- 
pany desired  Gen.  Parsons  for  governor.  The  act  of  congress 
providing  for  the  sale,  as  passed  July  23,  was  not  satisfactory  to 
the  proposed  purchasers,  especially  in  regard  to  the  security  re- 
quired for  the  unpaid  purchase  money,  and  Dr.  Cutler  addressed 
a  letter  to  the  treasury  requesting  modifications.  There  was  a 
serious  hitch  in  the  proceedings,  and  the  doctor  threatened  that 
unless  the  terms  proposed  in  his  letter  were  complied  with  the 
company  would  purchase  land  from  the  states.  But  the  chief 
obstacle  in  the  way  to  success,  as  he  soon  began  to  suspect,  was 
the  company's  candidate  for  governor.  The  program  was 
accordingly  changed,  the  doctor  frankly  declaring  to  Col.  Gray- 
son and  other  members  of  congress,  "that  if  Gen.  Parsons  could 
have  the  appointment  of  first  judge,  and  Sargent  secretary,  we 
should  be  satisfied ;  and  that  I  heartily  wished  Gen.  St.  Clair 
might  be  governor,  and  that  I  would  solicit  the  Eastern  mem- 
bers to  favor  such  an  arrangement."     The  doctor  further  states 

13  193 


194  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

that  he  found  this  suggestion  "rather  pleasing  to  the  Southern 
members;"  and  the  next  morning  meeting  Gen.  St.  Clair,  that 
gentleman  informed  him  that  "he  would  make  any  possible  ex- 
ertion to  prevail  with  congress  to  accept  the  terms  contained  in 
our  letter."  Dr.  Cutler  added  'that  things  went  on  much  bet- 
ter since  St.  Clair  and  his  friends  had  been  informed  that  we 
had  given  up  Parsons;  "  and  on  that  very  day,  July  23,  congress 
accepted  the  proposed  modifications  and  closed  the  contract.* 

The  reverend  doctor's  experience  in  public  affairs  proved  to  be 
of  great  advantage  to  him  in  this  emergency,  and  enabled  him  to 
consummate  his  great  scheme  without  the  surrender  of  a  single 
point  seriously  insisted  upon. 

The  officers  for  the  Northwest  Territory  were  finally  ap- 
pointed February  1,  1788,  as  follows:  Gen.  Arthur  St.  Clair, 
governor;  Winthrop  Sargent,  secretary;  and  Samuel  Holden 
Parsons,  James  Mitchell  Varnum,  and  John  Cleves  Symmes — 
vice  John  Armstrong  declined — judges.  The  ordinance  having 
been  amended  to  conform  to  the  Constitution  in  regard  to 
appointments,  these  officers  were  all  re-appointed  by  President 
Washington  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  Aug.  8,  1 789.-^ 

Gen.  St. Clair  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  whence  he  emigrated 
to  North  America  in  1755,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  He  entered  the  army  and  served  through  the  French  and 
Indian  wars  and  that  of  the  Revolution,  leaving  the  army  with 
the  rank  of  a  major-general.  In  1786,  he  was  elected  a  dele- 
gate to  congress  from  Pennsylvania,  and  was  president  of  that 
body  when  he  received  his  gubernatorial  appointment. 

He  was  now  to  enter  upon  an  untried  field.  The  theory  of 
congress  was  to  be  put  to  the  crucial  test  of  actual  experiment. 
Stupendous  results  might  depend  upon  the  success  or  failure  of 

*  Cutler's  Journal  in  Smith's  "  St.  Clair  Papers,"  I,  129. 

+  Other  officers,  in  place  of  those  who  had  died  or  resigned,  were  subsequently 
appointed  as  follows:  Judges,  George  Turner,  Sept.  12,  1789  —  vice  Win.  B  irton 
declined — resigned   1797;    Rufus  Putnam,    March  31,    1790  —  vice  S.    H.    Parsons, 
deceased — resigned  1796  ;  Joseph  Oilman,  Dec.  26,  1796,  in  place  of  Putnam  ;  Re 
turn  Jonathan  Meigs,  Jr.,  Feb.  12,  1798,  in  place  of  George  Turner  ;    Secretaries 
Wm.    H.    Harrison,  179S-9;    Charles  Willing  Byrd,  1799  to  1803;    Attorney  Gen 
eral,   Arthur    St.  Clair,  Jr.,   from    1796;    Treasurer,  John    Armstrong,   from    1792 
Auditors  of  Public  Accounts,    Rice  Bullock,    1799;   Thomas  Gibson,  from   1800; 
Delegates  to  Congress,  Wm.   H.   Harrison,  1799-1800,  William  McMillan,  iSoo-i, 
Paul  Fearing,  1 801 -3. 


ST.  CLAIR'S   ARRIVAL   AT    MARIETTA.  195 

his  initiatory  efforts  to  lay  broad  and  deep  the  foundation  on 
which  was  to  rest  the  superstructure  of  five  mighty  states,  and 
the  welfare  of  the  unborn  millions  who  would  people  them. 
How  to  deal  with  the  white  inhabitants,  separated  from  the 
restraints  of  older  communities,  and  with  the  red  men,  who 
largely  outnumbered  them;  how  equitably  to  settle  complicated 
and  conflicting  land  claims  arising  from  grants  and  treaties; 
how  to  provide  wholesome  laws  and  regulations  adapted  to  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants — these  were  a  few  of 
the  profound  as  well  as  perplexing  problems  which  the  situation 
presented. 

On  July  9,  1788,  the  twelve-oared  barge  of  the  governor 
reached  Marietta,  the  name  of  the  settlement  which  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  colony  to  be  planted  by  the  Ohio  Land  Company; 
and  as  he  stepped  on  shore,  he  was  received  by  the  recently 
arrived  citizens  with  military  honors. 

On  July  15,  the  governor  and  judges  formally  proceeded  to 
organize  the  new  government.  The  county  of  Washington  was 
established,  and  a  code  of  laws  adopted  and  published.* 

It  was  not  long  before  it  was  evident  that  there  was  a  lack  of 
harmony  between  the  executive  and  judicial  departments. 
They  entertained  different  views  as  to  their  respective  and  rela- 
tive powers,  and  did  not  agree  as  to  the  character  of  needed 
legislation.  Some  of  the  laws  adopted  were  construed  to  be  in 
violation  of  the  ordinance,  and  subsequently  failed  of  ratifica- 
tion by  congress. 

The  governor  found  his  situation  neither  pleasant  nor  profit- 
able, and  returning  to  Philadelphia  in  the  Fall,  seriously  thought 
of  tendering  his  resignation.  But  his  plans  for  preferment  and 
the  advancement  of  his  personal  interests  in  his  old  home  failed, 
and  he  returned  to  his  position. 

*  These  laws  were  not  always  adopted  from  the  statutes  of  the  original  states  as 
required  by  the  ordinance,  but  were  changed  at  first  to  meet  the  supposed  exigencies 
of  the  case.  This  action  was  not  approved  by  congress,  but  the  laws  were  generally 
permitted  to  remain  in  force  until  reenacted  by  the  first  territorial  legislature.  After 
1795,  the  laws  adopted  were  almost  literal  transcripts  of  those  of  other  states,  of 
which,  up  to  1 799,  when  the  governor  and  council  were  superseded  by  the  legisla- 
ture, twenty-five  (limitations,  settlement  of  estates,  wills,  enclosures,  ejectment,  etc.) 
were  taken  from  Pennsylvania,  eight  (dower,  divorce,  coroners)  from  Massachusetts, 
four  each  from  Virginia,  Connecticut,  and  Kentucky,  two  from  New  York  and  one 
from  New  Jersey. 


196  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

In  January,  1790,  the  governor  and  judges  proceeded  to  Fort 
Washington,  where  the  county  of  Hamilton  was  organized,  and 
the  name  of  the  village  changed  from  Losantiville  to  Cincinnati.* 

From  here  the  governor  and  secretary  determined  to  visit  for 
the  first  time  the  Illinois  country,  and  arrived  at  Kaskaskia 
March  5,  1790.  The  county  of  St.  Clair  was  established  (named 
after  himself)  being  laid  off  into  three  districts,  and  officers  ap- 
pointed therein.  The  selection  of  the  latter  the  governor  found 
to  be  a  difficult  task,  since,  as  he  says  "  not  a  fiftieth  man  could 
read  or  write,"  and  the  entire  district  "afforded  barely  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  persons  who  were  in  any  degree  qualified  to  fill 
the  necessary  offices."  So,  doubtless,  it  appeared  to  the  gov- 
ernor, but  why  it  happened  that  so  few  Americans  received 
appointments,  when  there  were  then  nearly  a  hundred  in  the 
county,  among  them  the  Moores,  Ogles,  Wm.  Arundel,  Shad- 
rach  Bond,  sr.,  the  Clarks,  Lemons,  George  Atchison,  and  many 
others  who  possessed  qualifications  above  the  average  pioneer 
settler,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture.  Did  they  prefer  to  re- 
main out  of  the  way,  waiting  to  see  how  they  might  be  affected 
by  the  changed  aspect  of  affairs  ?-f* 

The  governor  made  his  first  visit  to  Cahokia  April  27,  1790. 
He  found  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  country  in  a  deplor- 
able condition.  Ever  since  it  had  fallen  under  American  con- 
trol they  had  been  involved  in  no  little  distress.  They  had  with 
great  cheerfulness  furnished  Col.  Clark  and  his  troops  with  sup- 
plies, robbing  themselves  even  of  necessaries.  The  certificates 
which  they  had  received  in  payment,  were  still  in  their  hands 
unliquidated  and  unpaid.     The  authorities  of  Virginia  had  re- 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  40. 

t  The  first  officers  appointed  in  St.  Clair  County  were  as  follows  : 
Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas:  Jean  Bte.  Barbeau,  John  Edgar,  Antoine 
Gerardin,  Philip  Engle,  and  John  de  Moulin  ;  Justices  of  the  Court  of  Quarter 
Sessions  and  Justices-of-the- Peace  :  John  Edgar,  Philip  Engle,  Antoine  Gerardin. 
Antoine  Louviers  ;  Justices  of  the  Court  of  St.  Clair  County :  Francois  Trottier, 
F.  Janis,  Nicholas  Smith,  James  Piggott,  B.  Saueier  ;  Judge  of  Probate  :  Bartholo- 
mew Tardiveau  ;  Clerk  and  Recorder  of  Deeds :  William  St.  Clair,  a  nephew  of 
the  governor;  Sheriff:  William  Briggs  ;  Coroner:  Charles  le  Fevre ;  Surveyor: 
Antoine  Gerardin  ;  Militia  :  Lt-Colonel,  Bartholomew  Tardiveau  ;  Major,  Antoine 
Geradin  ;  Captains,  John  Edgar,  J.  B.  Dubergin,  Philip  Engle,  F.  Janis,  and 
James  Piggott;  Notary  Public:  Joseph  La  Bussiere. — Sargent's  Journal  in  "St. 
Clair  Papers." 


THE   GOVERNOR   IN    ILLINOIS.  197 

fused  payment  because  the  obligation  had  been  assumed  by  the 
general  government,  and  the  latter  had  failed  to  provide  for 
them.  Added  to  this  they  had  suffered  the  loss  of  the  Indian 
trade,  and  extortions  at  the  hands  of  those  who  had  been  for- 
merly their  friends.  Other  misfortunes  followed,  among  the  chief 
of  which  had  been  three  successive  and  extraordinary  inunda- 
tions of  the  Mississippi,  which  swept  away  their  crops  or  pre- 
vented their  being  planted,  together  with  the  loss  of  their  pre- 
vious crop  by  an  untimely  frost. 

Father  Gibault,  the  patriotic  priest  who  had  rendered  such 
valuable  service  to  Gen.  Clark  in  1778,  in  order  to  meet  the  de- 
mands for  supplying  American  troops,  and  as  an  example  and 
encouragement  to  others,  had  even  "parted  with  his  tithes  and 
his  beasts,  receiving  therefor  only  paper  dollars,"  and  was  "com- 
pelled to  sell  two  of  his  good  slaves"  to  raise  a  required  sum  of 
$1500.  He  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  aid  the  Revolutionary 
cause,  only,  as  he  claimed,  "  to  perceive  that  it  was  intended  to 
pillage  and  abandon  the  French  inhabitants." 

Charles  Gratiot,  at  Cahokia,  performed  like  patriotic  services 
on  a  much  larger  scale.  Himself  and  Francois  Vigo,  with 
others,  contributed  large  sums  not  only  to  supply  troops  but 
also  to  purchase  goods  for  the  Indians  to  close  treaties,  without 
which  they  could  not  have  been  successfully  concluded.  Gra- 
tiot presented  his  claims  at  Richmond  and  after  repeated  visits 
there,  and  years  of  effort,  he  finally  succeeded  in  having  them 
allowed,  receiving  but  little  ready  money  for  them,  however,  be- 
ing compelled  to  take  pay  in  tobacco,  slaves,  and  lands  at  high 
prices. 

Vigo's  claim  was  originally  $8716,  a  large  sum  in  those  days, 
the  failure  to  collect  which  kept  him  poor.  His  heirs  finally 
succeeded  in  securing  its  allowance  in  the  Court  of  Claims, 
but  the  United  States  appealed  from  the  decision  to  the  Su- 
preme Court,  where  it  was  reaffirmed  in  1876,  amounting  then 
to  about  $50,000.* 

The  French  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  territory  had,  indeed, 
experienced  the  most  remarkable  vicissitudes  of  political  for- 
tune. They  had  become  the  subjects  of  their  own  conquerors 
and  the  victims  of  their  own  wars.     Subjugated  by  the  British, 

*  "Magazine  of  Western  History,"  I,  230. 


I98  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

deserted  by  the  Indians,  despoiled  and  cheated  by  the  Ameri- 
cans, it  is  not  surprising  if,  in  their  present  condition,  they 
looked  back  with  regretful  longings  to  the  good  old  days  of 
French  rule,  or  even  to  the  time  when  the  British  were  over 
them,  who,  if  they  took  their  property,  paid  for  it  at  a  fair  valu- 
ation in  gold. 

The  governor  remained  in  the  new  county  until  June  n,  after 
which  time  he  did  not  revisit  it  for  five  years.  In  the  meantime 
the  government  which  he  had  inaugurated  therein  was  far  from 
being  a  success.  The  "militia  organization  had  proved  an  entire 
failure,  many  of  the  officers  refusing  to  discharge  their  duties, 
and  their  successors  manifesting  no  desire  to  improve  the  ser- 
vice. The  men  were  insubordinate,  and  had  refused  to  muster 
for  eighteen  months.  The  judiciary  was  in  an  equally  unsatis- 
factory condition.  The  courts  were  rarely  convened,  their  few 
sessions  being  marked  by  the  absence  of  order  or  decorum.  In 
other  respects  also  the  government  was  a  failure,  and  the  pros- 
pects of  the  people  were  indeed  gloomy.* 

In  1795  Judge  Turner,  at  the  request  of  the  governor,  pro- 
ceeded to  St.  Clair  County  to  hold  court.  His  visit  was  pro- 
ductive of  more  harm  than  good.  He  ordered  the  removal  of 
the  records  from  Cahokia  to  Kaskaskia,  and  removed  the  clerk 
from  office  because  he  opposed  the  transfer.  Out  of  this  pro- 
ceeding arose  a  controversy  between  the  governor  and  the 
judge,  which  resulted  in  the  preferment  of  charges  against  the 
latter,  and  in  his  ultimate  resignation.  The  division  of  St.  Clair 
County,  and  the  establishment  of  Randolph — named  after  Gov. 
Beverly  Randolph  of  Virginia — also  had  its  origin  in  the  same 
cause.  This  event  occurred  in  1795 — the  dividing  line  between 
the  counties  ran  from  the  Mississippi  through  the  New  Design 
settlement  to  the  Wabash.  Kaskaskia  was  made  the  county- 
seat  of  Randolph  County,  and  Cahokia  of  St.  Clair. 

The  governor  revisited  these  counties  in  1796,  and  with  him 
came  Judge  Symmes,  who  held  court  at  both  Kaskaskia  and 
Cahokia. 

At  the  latter  place  an  exciting  incident  was  the  attempt  to 
indict  Col.  William  Whiteside  and  others  for  the  killing  of  cer- 
tain Indians.     The  grand  jury  refused  to  find  a  bill,  and  the 

*  "Report  of  William  St.  Clair,"  in  June,  1793,  "St.  Clair  Papers." 


LAND- CLAIMS   IN    ILLINOIS.  199 

governor,  who  was  present,  approved  their  action,  stating  that 
the  killing  was  not  only  justifiable  but  praiseworthy.* 

The  complications  arising  out  of  conflicting  claims  and  titles 
to  land  in  Illinois  were  as  difficult  of  adjustment  as  they  were 
various  and  perplexing.  There  were  the  old  French  grants, 
whose  lines  were  often  difficult  to  find,  the  British  grants,  and 
those  of  the  Virginia  authorities.  These  latter  were  judiciously 
restricted  and  guarded  by  Col.  Todd,  but  not  by  his  successor, 
who,  it  is  said,  made  grants  indiscriminately. 

To  make  "confusion  worse  confounded,"  in  accordance  with 
the  stipulations  of  the  deed  of  cession  by  Virginia,  in  part  com- 
pensation for  the  hardships  imposed  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Illinois  by  the  events  of  war  which  followed  the  capture  of  Kas- 
kaskia  by  Gen.  Clark,  congress  on  the  29th  of  August,  1788, 
had  passed  a  resolution  providing  for  the  confirmation  in  their 
possessions,  and  titles  of  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants, 
and  other  settlers  about  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes,  who  on  or 
before  the  year  1783,  had  professed  themselves  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  any  of  them;  and  also  donating  a  tract  of 
four  hundred  acres  of  land  to  each  head  of  family  of  the  same 
description  of  settlers.  The  act  was  just  and  right,  the  difficulty 
lay  in  the  failure  to  execute  it. 

Although  ten  years  had  elapsed  since  the  conquest  of  the 
country,  and  five  years  since  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
congress  had  taken  no  action  in  compliance  with  the  numerous 
petitions  of  settlers  requesting  that  their  claims  be  confirmed 
and  their  titles  quieted.  Mindful  of  the  injury  being  done  in 
consequence  of  these  delays,  in  his  first  letter  of  instruction  to 
Gov.  St.  Clair,  President  Washington,  in  October,  1789,  called 
especial  attention  to  this  subject,  and  directed  him  to  "execute 
the  order  of  congress,"  stating  that  it  was  a  matter  of  import- 
ance "that  the  said  inhabitants  should  as  soon  as  possible 
possess  the  lands  to  which  they  were  entitled  by  some  known 
and  fixed  principle." 

Gov.  St.  Clair  found  the  task  assigned  him  by  the  resolution, 
which  required  him  to  make  lists  of  the  persons  entitled  to 
lands  and  have  them  surveyed,  a  most  trying  one,  the  difficul- 
ties of  which  were  enhanced  by  the  passage  of  the  act  of  con- 

*  "St.  Clair  Papers." 


200  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

gress  of  March  3,  1791.  This  law  extended  the  benefits  of  the 
resolution  not  only  to  those  who  had  removed  from  one  place 
to  another  within  the  district,  but  also  to  such  as  had  removed 
out  of  the  limits  of  the  territory  specified,  upon  condition  of 
their  returning  and  occupying  said  lands  within  five  years. 

It  further  provided  that  when  lands  had  been  actually  im- 
proved and  cultivated  within  the  limits  before  mentioned  under 
a  presumably  valid  grant  of  the  same  by  any  commandant  or 
court  claiming  authority  to  make  such  grants,  the  governor  was 
"empowered  to  confirm  the  same  to  such  persons,  their  heirs  or 
assigns,  or  such  parts  thereof  as  he  might  deem  reasonable,  not 
exceeding  four  hundred  acres  to  any  one  person."  The  statute 
also  contained  a  provision  to  the  effect  that  "the  governor  be 
authorized  to  make  a. grant  of  land  not  exceeding  one  hundred 
acres  to  each  person  who  hath  not  obtained  any  grant  of  land 
from  the  United  States,  and  who  on  the  first  day  of  August, 
1790,  was  enrolled  in  the  militia  at  Vincennes,  or  the  Illinois 
country,  and  has  done  militia  duty." 

Various  lists  and  additions  thereto  were  made  out  by  the 
governor  under  the  foregoing  resolutions  and  act  of  congress,  up 
to  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  even 
thereafter,  from  which  great  confusion  and  uncertainty  arose. 
Many  of  the  original  claimants  were  dead,  many  had  removed, 
some  had  assigned  their  claims,  and  not  a  few  persons  presented 
themselves  as  having  resided  in  the  territory  at  the  time  pre- 
scribed, but  who  had  never  been  heard  of  by  the  traditional 
"oldest  inhabitant."  But  no  surveys  were  made  under  the 
direction  of  the  governor,  and  the  law  remained  practically  a 
dead  letter,  to  the  great  dissatisfaction  and  inconvenience  of  the 
people.  Another  plan  for  the  adjustment  of  these  claims  had 
therefore  to  be  adopted.  This  was  embraced  in  the  act  of 
March  26,  1804,  establishing  land-offices  at  Vincennes  and  Kas- 
kaskia.  Under  this  act  Michael  Jones  was  appointed  register 
and  Elijah  Backus,  receiver;  who  were  also  authorized  to  act  as 
commissioners  with  full  power  to  receive  and  adjudicate  such 
claims;  which  were  classified  thus:  (1)  Ancient  grants,  (2) 
donation,  or  head-rights,  as  they  were  called ;  (3)  improvement, 
and  (4)  militia  claims.  John  Caldwell  was  added  to  the 
commission  in  18 12,  and  Shadrach  Bond  was  acting  as  register 


LAND-CLAIMS   IN    ILLINOIS.  201 

when  the  final  report  was  made  in  iS 1 5.  Naturally  the  age  of 
these  claims  and  difficulty  attending  their  proof,  opened  wide 
the  door  to  fraudulent  speculators.  The  assignment  of  a  claim 
frequently  implied  as  a  necessary  adjunct  the  production  of  a 
perjured  deposition  to  establish  it.  There  were  filed  with  the 
commissioners  seven  hundred  claims,  of  which  they  reported 
that  two  hundred  were  subsequently  admitted  to  be  false  by  the 
persons  making  them.  Signatures  to  deeds  and  assignments 
were  frequently  forged,  and  in  these  questionable  transactions 
some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Kaskaskia  were  implicated. 
Many  of  those  who  had  left  the  country  and  were  not  aware  of 
the  act  of  congress  sold  their  claims  for  a  mere  song. 

Many  French  inhabitants  fled  the  country  in  consequence  of 
being  told  that  they  would  be  required,  under  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  to  abjure  their  religion  and  forfeit  their  slaves  if  they  re- 
mained. As  might  have  been  expected,  such  ignorant  fugitives 
gladly  disposed  of  their  titles  at  a  merely  nominal  price. 

Finally,  as  reported  by  the  commissioners,  more  than  thirty 
years  after  the  claims  originated,  of  the  2294  claims  presented, 
1 171  had  been  confirmed.  Of  the  254  donation  claims  con- 
firmed in  the  first  report  and  approved  by  congress,  194  had 
been  assigned.  Of  the  172  in  the  second  report,  every  one  had 
passed  into  the  hands  of  new  parties.  Exclusive  of  the  ancient- 
grant  claims,  the  following  persons,  who  were  the  largest  holders 
at  the  time  of  the  presentation  of  the  final  report,  had  their 
titles  confirmed  to  the  number  of  acres  set  after  their  respective 
names: 

Nicholas  Jarrot,  25,000;  John  Rice  Jones,  9400;  William 
Morrison,  15,040;  John  Edgar,  49,200;  James  O'Hara,  6000; 
Jean  Francois  Perry,  5500;  William  Mcintosh,  8800. 

Although  a  state  of  war  existed  between  the  Indians  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Kentucky  and  the  Northwest  Territory,  which 
was  characterized  by  great  ferocity  and  vindictiveness  on  both 
sides  during  the  years  from  178 1-5,  the  white  settlements  in  St. 
Clair  County,  which  by  this  time  numbered  forty  or  fifty  fami- 
lies, escaped  serious  molestation.  The  act  of  congress  of  June, 
1785,  warning  settlers  to  depart  from  the  public  lands,  as  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  government  to  have  them  surveyed  and 
offered  for  sale,  aroused  the  jealousy  of  tribes  on  the  Wabash, 


202  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

who  determined  to  make  war  upon  the  white  settlers  in  St.  Clair 
and  Knox  counties,  the  latter  having  been  laid  out  at  Post  Vin- 
cennes.* 

The  salient  features  of  the  war,  if  the  desultory  guerilla  war- 
fare may  be  dignified  by  that  title,  were  marauding  expeditions 
and  midnight  attacks,  in  which  the  Kickapoos  bore  a  prominent 
part.  During  the  years  1786-1795,  these  sanguinary  raids  were 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Illinois  country,  and  resulted  in 
the  capture  or  massacre  of  many  of  the  inhabitants. 

A  few  individual  cases,  which  have  come  down  to  us  through 
particular  mention,  may  be  especially  noticed:  During  one  of 
these  predatory  incursions  in  1786,  James  Andrews,  with  his 
wife  and  daughter,  James  White  and  Samuel  McClure  were 
killed.  In  1788,  John  Vallis  was  killed  and  Wm.  Biggs  taken 
prisoner.  The  same  year,  Samuel  Garrison  and  Mr.  Reddich 
were  killed  and  scalped,  and  Benj.  Ogle  wounded.  In  1789, 
David  Waddle  was  wounded  and  scalped,  but  afterward  re- 
covered ;  James  Turner  and  John  Ferrel  with  three  others  were 
killed,  and  several  wounded.  In  1790,  James  Worley  was 
among  the  killed. 

As  a  defense  and  protection  against  these  attacks,  block- 
houses were  built  in  all  the  settlements.  These  were  from  one 
and  a  half  to  two  stories  high.  In  their  construction,  ornament 
was  discarded  for  utility,  and  symmetry  sacrificed  for  strength. 
The  lower  story  was  provided  with  port-holes  through  which  to 
shoot.  The  second  story  projected  three  or  four  feet  over  the 
first,  and  its  floor  was  perforated  with  similar  holes. 

Occasionally,  more  elaborate  architectural  plans  were  fol- 
lowed; several  families  made  common  cause  in  mutual  protec- 
tion against  the  treacherous  foe.  In  such  cases  four  houses 
were  erected  on  the  four  corners  of  a  square  piece  of  ground, 
the  intervals  between  being  filled  by  heavy  timbers  set  endways 
in  the  ground  to  a  height  of  fifteen  feet.  Within  the  enclosure 
were  cabins  for  the  residence  of  the  families,  care  being  taken  to 
choose  a  location  near  a  spring  of  running  water.  Wells  were 
sometimes  dug  on  the  inside  to  be  used  in  case  of  siege.  When 
danger  seemed  imminent,  horses  and  other  stock  were  driven 
inside  the  inclosure  for  safe  keeping.     The  trees  were  nearly  all 

*  Dillon,  201. 


GOV.   ST.  CLAIR'S   DEFEAT.  203 

cut  down  to  guard  against  ambuscades;  but  even  this  precau- 
tion did  not  avail  to  prevent  occasional  casualties  when  the 
gates  were  opened  in  the  early  morning. 

In  1 79 1,  all  overtures  for  peace  having  been  rejected  by  the 
Indians,  who  plainly  showed  their  ability  and  willingness  to 
fight  for  the  lands  of  which  they  claimed  to  have  been  deprived, 
Gov.  St.  Clair  determined  to  establish  a  series  of  forts  in  the 
enemy's  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Miami  village  and 
to  attack  him  wherever  met.  His  experience  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  was  not  without  value  to  him  in  the  performance  of 
the  task  which  his  official  position  imposed  upon  him,  and 
served  him  in  good  stead  at  a  time  when  experience  was  more 
rare  than  courage.  He  started  on  his  campaign  on  September 
7.  On  November  3,  his  forces,  numbering  some  1450  men, 
reached  a  point  near  what  was  afterward  the  site  of  Fort  Henry, 
and  went  into  camp.  Here  on  the  morning  of  September  4, 
just  before  sunrise,  he  was  unexpectedly  attacked  by  a  force  of 
1200  Indians,  commanded  by  Little  Turtle  and  Blue  Jacket, 
with  whom  were  the  notorious  Simon  Girty  and  a  few  other  ren- 
egade whites.  The  militia  fled  at  the  first  fire,  but  the  regulars 
stood  firm,  and  to  save  the  day,  which  was  going  against  them, 
made  repeated  and  most  heroic  bayonet  charges.  Their  deter- 
mined valor,  however,  did  not  avail,  and  a  retreat  was  ordered. 
The  fierce  yells  of  triumph  from  a  thousand  savages,  and  the 
furious  onslaught  of  the  now  victorious  foe,  turned  the  scene 
into  a  pandemonium  of  destruction  and  death. 

The  brave  old  commander,  though  so  severely  afflicted  with 
the  gout  as  to  be  unable  to  seat  himself  in  his  saddle,  was  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight,  continually  urging  his  men  to  stand  and 
charge.  He  had  four  horses  killed  while  trying  to  secure  a 
mount.  He  was  not  in  uniform.  His  long  grey  hair  flying  in 
the  wind  was  as  conspicuous  as  were  the  white  plumes  of  Henry 
of  Navarre  at  Ivry.  He  led  the  charge  which  drove  back  the 
first  assault  and  the  one  which  cut  a  way  through  the  enemy 
and  made  retreat  possible.  The  loss  was  fearful,  especially 
among  the  officers,  thirty-nine  of  whom  were  left  dead  upon  the 
field.  Of  the  men,  five  hundred  and  ninety  were  killed  or  miss- 
ing. Twenty-two  officers  and  two  hundred  and  forty-two  men 
were  wounded.     The  loss  of  the  Indians  was  estimated  at  only 


204  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  value  of  the  property  secured  by 
them  was  estimated  at  $32,810.* 

As  might  have  been  expected,  their  success  in  this  engage- 
ment encouraged  the  "red  skins"  to  still  bolder  acts  of  hostility. 
But  the  American  settlements  in  St.  Clair  County  had  been 
lately  reinforced  and  greatly  strengthened  by  the  immigration 
of  the  families  of  Whiteside,  Ogle,  Judy,  and  others  from  Ken- 
tucky, who,  by  their  daring,  became  a  terror  to  the  Indians,  and 
kept  them  at  bay. 

Gen.  St.  Clair  having  resigned  his  command  in  the  army,  was 
succeeded  by  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne.  The  campaign  entered 
upon  by  him  resulted  in  the  victory  of  the  Maumee  Rapids,  on 
August  20,  1794,  and  led  to  a  suspension  of  hostilities.  The 
Indians  having  by  this  time  become  convinced  that  it  was  idle 
for  them  to  prolong  the  struggle,  even  should  the  British  re- 
deem their  doubtful  promises  of  support  and  co-operation,  con- 
cluded to  agree  to  a  general  conference,  which  resulted  in  the 
Treaty  of  Greenville,  August  3,  1795. 

The  news  of  the  execution  of  this  important  treaty  was  hailed 
with  joy  throughout  the  Northwest.  Other  treaties  being  made 
soon  after,  immigration  revived  and  the  people  resumed  their 
peaceful  pursuits,  nor  was  the  improvement  of  the  country  again 
interrupted  by  the  disturbing  element  of  Indian  depredations 
for  over  fifteen  years. 

Among  those  facts  of  general  American  history  which  sustain 
an  intimate  relation  to  the  Northwest  at  this  period,  may  be 
mentioned  the  diplomatic  complications  which  existed  between 
the  United  States  on  the  one  hand,  and  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Spain,  on  the  other.  That  the  monarchial  governments  of 
Europe  would  have  rejoiced  to  witness  the  downfall  of  republi- 
can institutions  in  the  new  world,  is  a  question  not  admitting  of 
much  doubt.  Whether  or  not  any  or  all  of  the  great  powers 
hoped  for  an  ultimate  partition  of  the  continent  of  North  Amer- 
ica— each  in  its  own  interest,  the  fact  remains  that  American 
affairs  constituted  one  of  the  chief  topics  of  discussion  in  the 
cabinets  of  the  old  world.  The  latter  regarded  the  successful 
establishment  of  a  republic  on  the  western  shores  of  the  Atlan- 
tic as  a  standing  menace  to  the  integrity  of  those  ancient  insti- 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,  "and  Smith's  "  St.  Clair  Papers." 


FOREIGN   COMPLICATIONS.  205 

tutions  whose  perpetuity  they  sought  to  maintain.  Two  modes 
of  securing  the  overthrow  of  the  new  government  presented 
themselves;  one  to  embroil  the  United  States  in  a  foreign  war, 
and  the  other,  to  sow  the  seeds  of  sectional  jealousy  and  dissen- 
sion. 

Great  Britain  having,  in  1794,  erected  forts  within  the  terri- 
torial limits  of  the  United  States,  on  the  Maumee  River,  from 
which  aid  was  extended  to  the  hostile  Indians,  an  acrimonious 
controversy  arose  respecting  the  same.  The  attitude  of  Great 
Britain  toward  our  government  at  this  period  was  so  especially 
offensive  that  only  the  firm  prudence  of  President  Washington 
and  the  diplomatic  skill  of  John  Jay  averted  the  precipitation  of 
hostilities,  which,  to  say  the  least,  might  have  been  fraught  with 
grave  peril  to  the  young  republic.  On  November  19,  1794,  at 
London,  a  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation,  was  con- 
cluded with  Great  Britain  which  happily  settled  all  existing 
causes  of  quarrel  with  that  government.* 

In  1793,  the  French  Republic,  now  in  the  midst  of  its  strug- 
gles with  the  monarchies  of  Europe  to  maintain  its  existence,  in 
view  of  the  essential  aid  which  France  had  rendered  the  United 
States  in  the  Revolution,  through  its  minister,  Edmond  Charles 
Genet,  endeavored  to  persuade  the  American  government  to 
make  common  cause  with  France,  and  render  it  equally  valu- 
able assistance.  He  was  received  with  much  favor  by  the  peo- 
ple generally.  Becoming  intoxicated  by  the  fumes  of  popular 
adulation,  he  ventured  to  endeavor  to  make  proselytes  to  his 
own  political  theories  and  to  enlist  recruits  in  the  French  cause. 
He  secretly  organized  Jacobin  clubs  in  the  East,  and  dispatched 
emissaries  to  establish  similar  organizations  in  the  West — not- 
ably in  Kentucky.  Failing  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the 
government  in  his  schemes,  he  urged  upon  the  people  of  the 
West  the  advisability  of  setting  up  for  themselves  a  new  and 
independent  government.  He  called  for  volunteers  against 
Spain,  offering  large  inducements  and  high  positions  in  the 
French  army.  A  force  of  two  thousand  men  enlisted  for  this 
service,  at  the  head  of  which,  with  a  commission  as  major-gen- 
eral, was  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark. 

But  while  both  President  Washington  and  the  members  of  his 

*  Dillon's  "  Indiana,"  382,  et  seq. 


206  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

cabinet  were  personally  in  sympathy  with  the  republican  move- 
ment in  France,  they  wisely  determined  that  the  best  interests 
of  the  United  States  required  the  government  to  maintain  a 
strict  neutrality  as  between  France  and  the  other  powers.  The 
conduct  of  Minister  Genet  was  so  rash,  impolitic,  and  even  un- 
friendly, that  his  recall  was  insisted  upon  by  the  American 
government. 

By  order  of  the  President,  Gov.  St.  Clair  issued  a  proclama- 
tion informing  the  people  of  the  contemplated  invasion  of 
Spanish  territory,  and  warning  them  of  the  dangerous  conse- 
quences of  participating  in  it;  and  on  March  24,  1794,  he  issued 
a  second  proclamation  to  the  same  effect,  and  ordered  Gen. 
Wayne  to  garrison  and  provision  Fort  Massac,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preventing  the  contemplated  expedition  from  going 
down  the  Ohio.  Genet's  wild  scheme  having  been  thus  frus- 
trated by  the  adoption  of  these  measures  was  necessarily  aban- 
doned. 

This  action  of  the  United  States,  and  especially  its  ratifica- 
tion of  the  late  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  was  claimed  by  the 
French  government  to  operate  as  a  suspension  of  the  treaty 
made  between  France  and  the  United  States  in  1778 — the 
French  directory  charging  our  government  with  a  breach  of 
friendship,  an  abandonment  of  its  neutrality,  as  well  as  a  viola- 
tion of  its  tacit  engagements.  Amicable  relations  between 
France  and  Spain  were  renewed  by  the  treaty  of  August,  1796, 
and  in  December  following  James  Monroe,  our  minister  at 
Paris,  was  officially  notified  that  France  declined  longer  to  re- 
ceive a  minister  from  the  United  States. 

Leaving  for  the  present  this  threatening  attitude  of  France 
toward  the  United  States,  the  machinations  of  the  Spanish 
authorities  in  the  Western  country  against  the  peace  and  integ- 
rity of  the  American  Union  will  be  now  briefly  noticed. 

The  discontent  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky  and  certain 
portions  of  North  Carolina,  afterward  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  Tennessee,  over  the  question  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River  below  the  thirty-first  degree  of  latitude,  which 
had  been  reluctantly  conceded  to  Spain  by  the  United  States 
in  1782,  was  now  greatly  aggravated  by  the  repeated  refusals  of 
congress,  in  answer  to  their  petitions,  to  take  up  this  question 


NAVIGATION    OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.  20J 

and  to  insist  that  ail  impediments  to  the  free  navigation  of  that 
river  should  be  removed.* 

Seven  states,  indeed,  had  authorized  Minister  Jay  to  conclude 
a  treaty  with  Spain  in  which  the  United  States  would  agree  to 
forbear  to  navigate  the  Mississippi  for  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years.-f* 

The  Mississippi  formed  the  natural  outlet  of  the  products  of 
the  West.  Spain  not  oniy  had  possession  of  the  lower  portion 
of  this  great  artery  of  commerce,  but  controlled  its  navigation 
and  had  more  than  once  seized  American  vessels  attempting  its 
passage,  confiscating  both  boat  and  cargo. 

Said  Mr.  Madison,  "the  Mississippi  is  to  the  people  of  the 
Western  country  everything.  It  is  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware, 
the  Potomac,  and  all  navigable  streams  of  the  United  States 
formed  into  one  stream."  \ 

The  people  expressed  their  own  views  on  the  subject  as  fol- 
lows: "The  Mississippi  is  ours  by  nature.  Its  mouth  is  the 
only  issue  which  nature  has  given  to  our  waters  and  we  wish  to 
use  it  for  our  vessels.  No  power  shall  deprive  us  of  this  right. 
If  congress  refuses  us  effectual  protection  we  shall  adopt  the 
measures  which  our  safety  requires,  even  if  they  endanger  the 
peace  of  the  Union,  and  our  connection  with  other  states.  'No 
protection,  no  allegiance.'  "  § 

The  restlessness  and  discontent  of  the  people  was  also  in- 
creased by  the  refusal  of  congress  to  admit  Kentucky  as  a  state. 
To  have  admitted  Kentucky  would  have  disturbed  the  sectional 
preponderance  of  the  East  in  the  national  counsels;  and  as  the 
proposed  new  commonwealth  sought  admission  as  a  slave-state, 
eastern  members  promptly  and  emphatically  declared  that  if 
the  demand  of  Kentucky  was  granted,  they  would  peremp- 
torily insist  upon  the  admission  of  Maine  or  Vermont  as  a  free- 
state. 

Spain,  not  unmindful  of  its  failure  to  secure  a  portion  of  the 
territory  of  the  Northwest  east  of  the  Mississippi  in  1783,  had 
never  ceased  to  cast  a  longing  eye  upon  that  rich  domain,  to 
strengthen  its  possessions  on  the  west.      Its  aim  now  was  to 

*  Madison's  Works,  IV,  558. 

+  "Magazine  of  Western  History,"  I,  365,  Dillon's  "Indiana,"  189. 

J  "American  State  Papers,"  II,  513.  §  Barbe  Marbois'  "Louisiana,"  235. 


208  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

take  advantage  of  this  revolutionary  feeling  in  the  Northwest, 
of  which  it  had  been  the  primary  cause,  and  to  incite  the  people 
either  to  establish  a  separate  government,  or  to  attach  them- 
selves with  their  territory  to  Louisiana.  Efforts  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  end  were  sedulously  put  forward  for  nearly 
five  years.  Spanish  agents  visited  leading  men  in  the  coveted 
territory  and  freely  offered  both  men  and  money  to  aid  them 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  scheme.  Gen.  Miro,  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernor at  New  Orleans,  was  active  and  adroit  in  his  efforts  to 
urge  the  people  of  the  disaffected  district  to  revolt.  Neither 
were  there  wanting  ambitious  leaders  therein,  who  not  only 
lent  a  willing  ear  to  these  counsels,  but  were  also  ready  to 
cooperate  with  him  in  his  plans. 

But  fortunately  the  people  of  Kentucky  were  divided  among 
themselves  regarding  the  policy  to  be  pursued.  While  some 
favored  the  establishment  of  a  new  republic,  others  were  in- 
clined to  attach  the  would-be  state  to  Louisiana ;  a  third  fac- 
tion believed  that  the  Spanish  power  in  North  America  might 
be  overthrown  by  a  well-planned  attack  on  New  Orleans,  and 
there  was  yet  a  fourth  party  who  contended  that  the  panacea 
for  their  political  woes  was  to  be  found  in  the  establishment 
of  a  French  protectorate. 

But  in  the  meantime,  pending  negotiations  between  Spain 
and  the  United  States  were  finally  concluded  by  the  treaty  of 
October  27,  1795,  among  whose  provisions  were  the  following: 
That  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  should  be  the  Western 
boundary  of  the  United  States;  that  the  navigation  of  the  en- 
tire river  should  be  free  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  the  latter  should,  for  three  years,  have  the  privilege  of 
using  the  port  of  New  Orleans  as  a  port  of  both  entry  and  ex- 
port, being  subject  to  the  payment  of  local  charges  only.  It  is 
a  remarkable  fact  that  as  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
was  reluctantly  conceded  by  the  United  States  to  Spain  in 
1782,  in  consequence  of  the  fear  that  the  states  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia,  then  occupied  by  the  British,  might  fall  into 
the  hands  of  that  government,  so  the  favorable  concessions  by 
Spain,  in  the  treaty  of  1795  to  the  United  States,  were  secured 
from  that  government  because  it  desired  to  interpose  the  United 
States  as  a  neutral  power  and  barrier  between   Canada  and 


ATTEMPTS   TO   DIVIDE   THE    UNION.  209 

Louisiana  in  the  then  pending  war  between  Spain  and  Great 
Britain. 

On  the  part  of  Spain,  however,  the  treaty  of  1795  seems  to 
have  been  signed  with  a  mental  reservation.  No  sooner  had 
the  British  war  cloud  disappeared  from  the  horizon  than  Baron 
Carondolet,  the  Spanish  governor  at  New  Orleans,  declared  that 
the  agreement  for  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  "was 
only  a  temporary  arrangement,"  and  renewed  his  efforts  to 
foment  the  spirit  of  discontent  in  the  West.  Thomas  Power, 
who,  as  his  emissary,  had  already  been  over  the  ground  on  a 
similar  mission,  was  again  dispatched  to  sow  the  seeds  of 
discord.  The  terms  of  his  commission  as  well  as  of  his  in- 
structions were  secret,  and  a  system  of  private  communication, 
through  signs  and  cipher  dispatches,  was  arranged  before  his 
departure.  He  was  directed  to  impress  upon  the  leading  citi- 
zens, to  whom  he  was  sent,  the  necessity  for  withdrawing  from 
the  federal  Union  and  forming  a  separate  Western  government. 
The  best  talent  the  country  afforded  was  to  be  employed  in 
writing  well-timed  publications,  to  expose  the  inconveniences 
and  disadvantages  of  any  further  connection  with  the  Atlantic 
States,  and  to  enlarge  upon  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
autonomy.  To  cover  the  cost  and  expenses  of  this  branch  of 
the  work,  the  Baron  pledged  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Immediately  after  the  promulgation  of  the  declaration  of  in- 
dependence, Fort  Massac  was  to  be  seized  by  the  putative  gov- 
ernment, which  would  be  supplied  with  munitions  of  war  by  the 
King  of  Spain,  and  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  donated  for 
raising  and  maintaining  troops.  Power  traveled  through 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky  with  great  secrecy  and  after  holding 
interviews  with  leading  citizens  proceeded  to  Detroit  to  confer 
with  Gen.  Wilkinson,  who  had  been  regarded  as  an  active  ad- 
herent of  the  scheme  of  disintegration,  but  the  latter  had  appar- 
ently begun  to  lose  faith  in  the  "well-laid  plan"  for  separation, 
and,  although  he  had  private  conferences  with  Power,  he  sent 
him  away  publicly  under  guard,  and  in  disgrace. 

The   people   of  the  West   having  secured,  by  the  treaty  of 

1795,  the  right  to  navigate  the  great  river  without  hindrance, 

and  a  place  of  storage  at  New  Orleans  without  being  subjected 

to  unreasonable  charges,  now  found  but  little  cause  of  com- 

14 


210  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND    STATISTICAL. 

plaint  against  the  general  government.  Their  attachment  to 
the  new  constitution  had  grown  stronger  as  their  desire  for  sep- 
aration had  weakened,  and  in  March,  1796,  Spain,  having  lost 
all  hope  of  effecting  a  secession  of  the  western  country  from 
the  Republic,  evacuated  the  fort  of  Natchez,  which  was  the  next 
day  taken  possession  of  by  the  United-States  troops. 

To  return  to  the  French.  The  refusal  of  that  government  to 
receive  a  minister  from  the  United  States,  and  the  depredations 
committed  by  its  vessels  upon  American  commerce,  compelled 
our  government  to  adopt  and  enforce  measures  of  defence  and 
retaliation.  These  were  (1)  to  raise  a  provisional  army,  (2)  to 
suspend  commercial  relations  between  the  two  countries,  (3)  to 
authorize  the  armed  resistance  of  merchant  vessels,  and  (4)  to 
enact  stringent  penalties  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes 
against  the  United  States. 

Meanwhile  a  great  change  had  taken  place  in  the  internal 
administration  of  France.  The  new  ministry,  perceiving  that  it 
was  for  French  interest  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  the 
United  States,  intimated  as  much  to  our  minister  at  the  Hague. 
As  a  result  a  treaty  of  international  amity  was  again  concluded 
between  the  two  governments  on  September  30,  1800.  And 
thus  happily  were  averted  those  foreign  complications  which 
had  threatened  serious  disaster  to  the  young  republic. 

In  1798,  it  having  been  ascertained  that  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory contained  a  population  of  five  thousand  inhabitants,  steps 
were  taken  to  advance  it  to  the  rank  of  a  territory  of  the  second 
grade.  An  election  was  ordered  for  representatives  to  a  gen- 
eral assembly,  which  was  to  convene  at  Cincinnati,  February  4, 
1799.  To  this  body  Shadrach  Bond  was  elected  a  delegate 
from  St.  Clair  County  and  John  Edgar  from  Randolph.  After 
nominating  persons  whose  names  were  to  be  sent  to  the  Presi- 
dent from  among  whom  he  might  appoint  the  council,  an 
adjournment  was  had  until  September,  when  the  organization 
was  completed.  During  the  first  session,  which  terminated 
December  19,  forty-eight  acts  were  passed,  of  which  thirty- 
seven  were  approved  by  the  governor  and  eleven  vetoed. 

The  territorial  legislature  was  composed  of  an  able  body  of 
men,  among  them  being  Return  J.  Meigs,  afterward  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  governor  of  Ohio,  and  postmaster-general; 


DIVISION   OF   THE   NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  211 

Thomas  Worthihgton  and  Edward  Tiffin,  both  of  them  subse- 
quently governors  of  the  State  and  senators  in  congress;  Gen. 
James  Findlay,  for  many  years  a  member  of  congress  from  the 
Cincinnati  district;  Jacob  Burnet  and  Solomon  Sibley.  Serious 
and  unhappy  differences  of  opinion  upon  proposed  legislation 
between  the  governor  and  the  legislature  were  soon  apparent, 
provoking  no  little  controversy,  which  probably  hastened  the 
creation  of  Indiana  Territory,  and  the  admission  of  Ohio  as 
a  state. 

Wm.  H.  Harrison,  who  had  been  appointed  secretary  of  the 
territory,  June  26,  1798,  in  the  place  of  Winthrop  Sargent  who 
had  been  promoted  to  the  governorship  of  Mississippi,  was 
chosen  a  delegate  to  congress,  defeating  Arthur  St.  Clair,  son  of 
the  governor,  by  one  vote. 

The  division  of  the  Northwest  Territory  makes  it  no  longer 
necessary  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  Gov.  St.  Clair.  In  parting 
with  the  veteran  pioneer  executive,  it  can  hardly  be  claimed  for 
him  that  his  administration  was  a  success.  Although  an  ardent 
patriot,  he  was  a  high  federalist,  and  a  believer  in  the  theory  of 
a  "paternal  government,"  in  life-tenures  of  office,  and  in  execu- 
tive appointments  rather  than  in  popular  elections.  In  his 
official  conduct  he  was  arbitrary,  opinionated,  self-confident,  and 
stubborn.  He  had  misunderstandings  with  the  first  secretary, 
Sargent,  quarrelled  with  and  antagonized  his  successor,  Gen. 
Harrison,  and  bitterly  opposed  the  last  secretary,  Byrd.  He 
controverted  the  judges,  and  had  frequent  collisions  with  the 
territorial  legislatures.  His  appointment  of  his  son,  Arthur,  Jr., 
as  attorney  general,  and  of  his  nephew  William,  clerk  and 
recorder  of  St.  Clair  County,  and  above  all  his  confirmation  of 
an  alleged  grant  of  thirty  thousand  acres  of  land  to  John  Edgar 
and  J.  Murry  St.  Clair,  another  son,  in  1800,  after  the  termina- 
tion of  his  authority  to  act  as  land  commissioner — which  con- 
firmation was  afterward  declared  a  nullity — were  acts  fairly 
open  to  severe  criticism.  He  was  rebuked  by  two  presidents, 
Washington  and  Jefferson,  and  was  finally  removed  from  office 
by  the  latter  on  account  of  his  conduct  growing  out  of  the 
division  of  the  territory  and  the  steps  taken  to  form  the  state 
government  of  Ohio. 

In  person  he  was  tall  and  erect  and  his  address  was  courtly. 


212  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

He  was  brave  in  battle  and  faithful  to  his  friends.  He  ad- 
vanced large  sums  from  his  private  means  to  sustain  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  Revolution,  as  well  as  to 
defray  the  current  expenses  of  the  territorial  government,  which 
were  never  repaid  to  him.  The  last  days  of  the  old  soldier, 
whose  name  is  so  closely  interwoven  with  the  early  history  of 
Illinois,  were  dark  and  lonely.  His  fortune — once  a  large  one 
for  the  times  in  which  he  lived — had  been  mainly  spent  in  the 
service  of  his  country,  and  he  found  himself  in  his  old  age  re- 
duced from  affluence  to  penury.  Neglected  by  his  friends,  he 
dragged  out  a  wretched  existence  in  poverty,  if  not  in  actual 
want,  his  only  support  being  the  beggarly  pension  allowed  him 
by  the  government,  until,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years  he 
closed  his  days  in  a  log-cabin  in  Pennsylvania,  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  proverbial  "ingratitude  of  republics." 

Authorities:  "The  St.  Clair  Papers,"  by  William  Henry  Smith';  "Notes  on  the 
Early  Settlement  of  the  Northwest  Territory, "  by  Jacob  Burnet;  Dillon's  "Historical 
Notes;"  "American  State  Papers;"  old  MSS.  in  Chicago  Historical  Society; 
"Magazine  of  Western  History,"  Vol.  I. — a  series  of  papers  therein  edited  by  O. 
W.  Collet;  "Life,  Journal,  and  Correspondence  of  Manasseh  Cutler,"  by  W.  P. 
and  J.  P.  Cutler;  U.  S.  Treaties;  "Laws  of  Congress;"  "Western  Annals;" 
Gayarre's  and  Marbois'  "  History  of  Louisiana;  "  Bancroft's  "History  of  the  Con- 
stitution;"  Butler's  and  Marshall's  "History  of  Kentucky." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

As  a  Part  of  Indiana  Territory — Indian  Policy  and  Trea- 
ties— Tables — Acquisition  of  Louisiana — Third  At- 
tempt to  Divide  the  Union — Schemes  of  Aaron  Burr, 
1800-1809. 

ON  May  7,  1800,  congress  passed  an  act  dividing  the  North- 
west Territory,  by  the  provisions  of  which,  after  July  4, 
"  all  that  portion  thereof  which  lies  to  the  westward  of  a  line 
beginning  on  the  Ohio,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky 
River,  and  running  thence  to  Fort  Recovery,  and  thence  north 
until  it  shall  intersect  the  territorial  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  shall  for  the  purpose  of  a  temporary  govern- 
ment, constitute  a  separate  territory,  and  be  called  the  Indiana 
Territory."  The  seat  of  government  designated  was  "Saint 
Vincennes." 

Gen.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  then  a  member  of  congress,  hav- 
ing become  widely  known  as  an  able  and  efficient  public  officer 
by  reason  of  his  military  and  administrative,  as  well  as  legisla- 
tive services,  was,  on  May  13,  1800,  appointed  governor  of  this 
new  territory.  He  was  the  son  of  Gov.  Benjamin  Harrison  of 
Virginia,  where  he  was  born  February  9,  1773.  Leaving  the 
college  of  Hampden  Sydney  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  was 
placed  at  a  medical  college  in  Philadelphia  by  his  father,  who 
intended  he  should  be  a  physician.  But  the  news  of  the  Indian 
disturbances  in  the  West  reaching  him  aroused  his  military 
spirit,  and  he  determined  to  exchange  the  pestle  and  mortar  for 
the  more  enlivening  music  of  the  fife  and  drum. 

He  was  commissioned  an  ensign  by  President  Washington  in 
1791,  and  as  the  aid-de-camp  of  Gen.  Wayne,  greatly  distin- 
guished himself,  especially  in  the  battle  of  the  Maumee  Rapids. 
From  this  date  his  advancement  in  rank  was  as  rapid  as  it  was 
deserved.  The  young  captain  was  no  less  successful  in  the  lists 
of  Cupid  than  upon  the  field  of  Mars.  He  wooed  the  daughter 
of  the  wealthy  Judge  Symmes,  and  though  his  suit  was  prosper- 
ous with  the  lady,  the  father  refused  his  consent  to  the  proposed 

213 


214  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

alliance.  Taking  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  prospective 
father-in-law,  the  young  couple  proceeded  to  have  the  hyme- 
neal knot  securely  tied.  Upon  his  return  home  the  judge  met 
his  son-in-law  at  a  dinner-party  given  by  Gen.  Wilkinson  to 
Gen.  Wayne,  and  accosting  him,  said,  "  Well,  sir,  I  understand 
you  have  been  married  to  Annie? "  "  I  have,  sir,"  was  the  reply. 
"How  do  you  expect  to  support  her?"  inquired  the  father.  "By 
rny  sword  and  my  own  right  arm,"  was  the  response.  His  sub- 
sequent splendid  career  justified  his  confidence  and  showed  that 
his  brave  words  were  not  mere  idle  vaporing. 

John  Gibson  of  Pennsylvania,  was  appointed  secretary  of  the 
Territory  under  Gen.  Harrison,  and  William  Clark,  John  Griffin, 
and  Henry  Vanderburgh,  judges.  The  arrival  of  the  governor 
having  been  delayed  until  January,  1801,  the  secretary,  as 
empowered  by  law,  organized  the  new  government  by  appoint- 
ing the  necessary  subordinate  officers  in  the  three  counties  of 
Knox,  St.  Clair,  and  Randolph.* 

After  the  governor  had  reached  Vincennes  he  met  the  judges 
in  legislative  session,  at  which  laws  for  the  government  of  the 
Territory  were  enacted,  courts  established,  other  officers  selected 
and  the  new  government  successfully  launched. 

The  long  career  of  Gen.  Harrison  as  governor  of  Indiana 
Territory  was  particularly  distinguished  by  the  success  which 
attended  his  judicious,  yet  firm,  Indian  policy.  He  has  been 
not  inaptly  styled  "the  great  treaty-maker,"  his  name  appearing 
as  the  representative  of  the  United  States,  on  no  less  than  thir- 
teen treaties  with  different  tribes  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
all  of  which  were  executed  during  the  period  of  his  occupation 
of  the  gubernatorial  chair,  and  included  nearly  all  the  lands  in 
the  Northwest  Territory. 

The  first  Indian  treaty  relating  to  cessions  in  the  section  indi- 
cated was  that  of  Fort  Mcintosh,  made  January  21,  1785,  and 
embraced  only  lands  in  Ohio. 

On  January  31,  1786,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  the  mouth  of 

*  Those  designated  in  Randolph  County  were :  Robert  Morrison,  Paul  Harral- 
son,  and  James  Gilbreath,  county  commissioners;  George  Fisher,  sheriff;  Robert 
Morrison,  clerk  of  the  court  of  quarter -sessions;  William  Wilson,  county  sur- 
veyor; William  Kelley,  coroner;  and  Lardner  Clark,  recorder.  In  St.  Clair 
County  they  were:  John  Hays,  sheriff;  William  Arundel,  clerk;  and  John  Hay, 
recorder. 


FIRST   INDIAN   TREATIES.  21 5 

the  Miami,  which  covered  not  only  lands  in  Ohio  but  also  in 
Indiana.  Then  followed  that  of  Fort  Harmar,  January  9,  1789, 
between  Gov.  St.  Clair  and  the  Six  Nations,  and  certain  western 
tribes  including  the  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  and  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  which  was  chiefly  confirmatory  of  that  of  Fort  Mcintosh. 

These  treaties,  and  the  subsequent  action  of  congress  relating 
to  the  public  lands,  proved  to  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  Indians, 
and  gave  rise  to  frequent  disputes,  which  culminated  in  war  as 
has  been  already  stated.  In  1793,  a  commission  consisting  of 
Benjamin  Lincoln  of  Massachusetts,  Beverly  Randolph  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  Timothy  Pickering  of  Pennsylvania,  was  appointed 
by  congress  to  consider  all  the  questions  involved  and,  if  pos- 
sible, arrive  at  some  satisfactory  settlement.  For  the  guidance 
of  the  commission,  instructions  were  framed,  which  can  not  but 
be  read  with  interest  at  the  present  day,  since  they  not  only 
defined  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  commissioners,  but  also 
clearly  outlined  the  then  existing  policy  of  the  national  govern- 
ment toward  the  aborigines. 

The  principles  by  which  the  commissioners  were  to  be  guided 
were  formally  set  forth  as  follows:  "With  respect  to  the  treaties 
made  between  the  United  States  and  the  several  hostile  tribes 
since  the  peace  with  Great  Britain  in  1783,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar,  made  in  January,  1789,  is  re- 
garded as  having  been  made  on  solid  grounds — the  principle 
being  that  of  a  fair  purchase  and  sale.  The  government  con- 
siders the  Six  Nations,  who  claimed  the  lands  by  virtue  of  for- 
mer conquests,  lying  between  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie,  [east  of 
the  western  line  of  Pennsylvania  and  north  of  the  Ohio]  which 
were  ceded  and  confirmed  to  the  United  States  by  said  treaty 
with  said  Six  Nations,  together  with  the  Wyandots,  Delawares, 
and  Ottawas,  and  other  hostile  Indians,  who  were  the  actual 
occupants  of  the  lands,  as  the  proper  owners  thereof :  that  they 
had  the  right  to  convey  said  lands  to  the  United  States  ;  and 
that  they  did  accordingly  make  the  said  conveyance  with  their 
free  consent  and  full  understanding.  Parties,  however,  who 
were  not  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar  may  have  been  at  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh  or  the  Miami.  But  if  it  shall  appear 
upon  a  further  investigation  of  the  subject,  at  the  place  of  con- 
ference, that  there  were  other  tribes  interested  in  the  lands  then 


2l6  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

ceded  to  the  United  States,  than  those  who  subscribed  the  said 
treaty,  or  that  the  consideration  given  was  inadequate,  it  may- 
be proper,  in  either  or  both  cases,  that  a  liberal  compensation 
be  made  to  the  just  claimants."  * 

At  the  various  conferences  subsequently  held  between  the 
commissioners  and  the  Indians,  delegates  were  present  from  the 
following  tribes:  the  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Shawnees,  Miamis, 
Mingoes,  Pottawatomies,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Seven  Nations  of 
Canada,  Cherokees,  Mohicans,  Senecas,  Munsees,  Convoys,  and 
Creeks.  The  Indians  contended  that  the  treaties  of  Fort  Stan- 
wix  and  Fort  Mcintosh  had  been  executed  by  them  through 
fear,  and  that  they  were  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they  provided 
for  cessions  of  lands.  They  further  urged  that  the  treaty  of 
Fort  Harmar  was  made  by  Gen.  St.  Clair  with  a  few  chiefs  of 
two  or  three  nations  only,  after  he  had  been  informed  that  at  a 
general  council  of  the  tribes,  previously  held,  no  bargain  or  sale 
of  any  portion  of  their  lands  would  be  considered  as  valid  or 
binding. 

The  commissioners  found  it  necessary  to  recede  from  the 
position  first  taken  by  the  government,  that  the  whole  of  the 
Northwest  Territory  was  owned  by  the  United  States,  as  suc- 
cessors of  Great  Britain,  making  use  of  the  following  language: 
"We  by  express  authority  of  the  President  do  acknowledge  the 
property,  or  right  of  soil  of  the  great  country  above  described 
to  be  in  the  Indian  Nations,  so  long  as  they  desire  to  occupy 
the  same.  We  only  claim  particular  tracts  in  it  *  *  and  the 
right  of  purchasing  of  the  Indian  Nations  disposed  to  sell  these 
lands,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  white  people." 

To  this  the  Indians  replied,  that  they  had  never  granted  to 
the  King  of  England  or  any  other  European  power  the  exclu- 
sive privilege  of  purchasing  their  lands  and  said,  "and  we  de- 
clare to  you  that  we  consider  ourselves  free  to  make  any  bar- 
gain or  cession  of  lands  whenever  and  to  whomsoever  we  please." 

The  views  of  the  contracting  parties,  it  will  be  seen,  were  wide 
apart;  and  no  agreement  having  been  reached  after  a  discussion 
lasting  through  July  and  August,  the  pending  negotiations  were 
broken  off. 

An  appeal  was  once  more  made  to  the  sword,  and  the  cam- 

*  Dillon's  "Indiana, "  301. 


INDIAN   TREATIES.  217 

paign  of  Maj.-Gen.  Anthony  Wayne  begun  in  July,  1794  was 
brought  to  a  successful  close  by  the  battle  of  the  Maumee 
Rapids,  August  20,  in  which  the  allied  Indians  were  defeated. 
The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  twenty-six  killed  and  eighty- 
seven  wounded;  that  of  the  Indians,  more  than  double  that 
number,  forty  being  left  dead  upon  the  field.*  This  engage- 
ment was  followed  by  the  Treaty  of  Greenville,  executed  Aug- 
ust 3,  1795. 

This  was  the  first  treaty  relating  to  lands  in  Illinois  in  which 
the  Western  tribes  claiming  to  own  them  united.  The  lands 
conveyed  thereby  were  as  follows:  six  miles  square  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Chicago  River;  twelve  miles  square  at  or  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Illinois  River;  six  miles  square  at  the  old  Peoria  fort;  the 
post  of  Fort  Masaac;  the  150,000  acres  assigned  Gen.  Clark  and 
his  soldiers;  "and  the  lands  at  all  other  places  in  possession  of 
the  French  people  and  other  white  settlers  among  them,  the 
Indian  title  to  which  has  been  thus  extinguished." 

The  United  States  relinquished  its  claims  to  all  other  Indian 
lands  northward  of  the  river  Ohio,  eastward  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  south  of  the  great  lakes,  afterward  explained  and  defined  in 
the  treaty  to  mean  "that  the  Indian  tribes  who  have  a  right  to 
these  lands  are  quietly  to  enjoy  them  hunting,  planting,  and 
dwelling  thereon,  so  long  as  they  please,  without  any  molesta- 
tion from  the  United  States;  but  when  those  tribes,  or  any  of 
them,  shall  be  disposed  to  sell  their  lands,  or  any  part  of  them, 
they  are  to  be  sold  only  to  the  United  States." 

These  concessions  thus  wisely  secured  by  Gen.  Wayne  formed 
the  basis  of  all  future  negotiations  with  the  Indians;  and  now  it 
was  no  longer  required  to  wait  until  all  the  tribes  pretending  to 
be  interested  could  be  got  together,  as  all  that  was  necessary 
for  the  government  to  do  was  to  hold  out  sufficient  inducements 
to  any  single  tribe,  in  order  to  secure  the  title  to  the  land  which 
it  claimed  to  own. 

Accordingly,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  extensive  settle- 
ments toward  the  Mississippi,  it  became  necessary  to  secure 
more  land  in  that  direction,  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  the 
Kaskaskias  representing  the  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  Mitchigamis, 
and  Tamaroas,  of  the  ancient  confederation  of  the  Illinois  Ind- 

*  "American  Pioneer,"  Vol.  I,  315-320. 


218 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


ians,  for  over  eight  million  acres  of  land  in  the  southern  portion 
of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Illinois.  This  treaty  was  executed 
at  Vincennes  by  Gov.  Harrison,  Aug.  13,  1803.*  Following 
the  treaty  last  cited,  others  were  made  with  the  Shawnees  and 
Piankashaws,  the  same  year;  with  the  Piankashaws  and  Sacs 
and  Foxes  in  1804;  the  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies  in  1809; 
the  Peorias,  Illinois,  Weas,  and  Kickapoos  in  18 18,  by  which 
Indian  claims  to  lands  in  the  greater  portion  of  Illinois,  were 
extinguished.^ 

*  "Revision  of  Indian  Treaties,"  424. 

t  The  following  shows  in  a  compact  form  the  time  and  place  of  execution  of 
those  treaties  relating  to  lands  in  Illinois,  the  names  of  the  tribes  with  whom  made, 
the  amount  of  territory  ceded,  and,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  considera- 
tion paid  therefor: 


PLACE   AND   NAME. 

Greenville, 

By  Gen   Wayne. 

Fort  Wayne, 
Gov.  Harrison. 

Vincennes, 

Gov.  Harrison. 

St.  Louis, 

Gov.  Harrison. 

Vincennes, 

Gov.  Harrison. 

Fort  Wayne, 
Gov.  Harrison. 

Vincennes, 

Gov.  Harrison. 

St.  Louis, 

Gov.  Edwards,  Wm. 
Clark,  A.  Chouteau.  ) 

Edwardsville,  I 

Gov.  Edwards  and     V 
A.  Chouteau.  ) 

St.  Mary's,  (^ 

Lewis  Cass,  et  al.        j 

Fort  Harrison,  I 

Benjamin  Parke.         f 

St.  Joseph,  ) 

Lewis  Cass,  Pierre     j- 
Menard.  ) 

Priirie  du  Chien,  (_ 

Pierre  Menard,  et  al.  ) 


NAMES    OF   TRIBES. 


ACRES.       AM  T  PAID 


/  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Ottawas,  \ 
)      A  )  Chippewas,  Miamis,  Shawnees,  f  „  „  ~ 

j      A"S-  3-  m5-     \  pottawatomies,  Kaskaskias.  Eel  \     11'8oS>499      $210,000 

\  River,  Kickapoos,  Piankashaws  ) 

)  t  o           I  Delawares,  Shawnees.  Miamis,  \ 

j  -*  ''                (  Pottawatomies,  and  Kickapoos.  j 

)  a  o         J  Kaskaskias,  representing  them- ) 

j"  a-     3>        3-     (  selves  Cahokias,  A  Mitchigamis.  f 

J-     Nov.  3,  1804.        Sacs  and  Foxes.        ... 

f    Dec.  30,  1805.        Piankashaws.  -        -        - 

j  Delawares,  Miamis,  Eel  River,  ) 
(       Pottawatomies,  and  Weas.      j 

Kickapoos,         .... 


j-    Sept.  30, 
I 

r 

X 


1809. 


Dec.  9,  1809. 
Aug.  24,  1816. 

Sept.  30,  1818, 

Oct.  2,  1818. 
Aug.  30,  1 8 19. 

Sept  20,  1828. 

Jan.  2,  1830. 


j      Pottawatomies,  Chippewas, 
I  Ottawas. 


Peoria  and  Illinois. 

Weas.     - 

Kickapoos  of  the  Vermilion. 

Pottawatomies. 


f 


2,038,400 

4,000 

8,911,850 

12, OOO 

14,803,500 

22,234 

2,676,150 

4,IO0 

2,900,000 

138,240 

27,000 

1,418,400 

12,000 

6,865,280 

11,000,000 

3,173,120 
990,720 


6,400 


33,000 


5.795 


J      Pottawatomies,  Chippewas, 
I  Ottawas. 


4,160,000         390,601 


Chicago, 

Tippecanoe, 
Chicago, 

Fort  Armstrong  and 
Prairie  du  Chien. 
St.  Louis. 


f    Oct.  20,  1832.        Pottawatomies  of  the  Prairie.             I,3j6  000  460,346 

Oct.  27,  1832.        Pottawatomies  of  Indiana.                      737,000  406,121 

j     c     .      ,-     o          (      Pottawatomies,  Chippewas,  (                    ,  ,        0 

\    Sept.  26,  1833.    -j                       Ottawas.  |        5.104,960  7,624,289 

Winnebagoes.     ... 
Kaskaskias  and  Peorias. 


'    1829  and  1832. 
Oct.  27,  1832. 


10,346,000     5,195,252 
1.920         155,780 


The  same  lands,  it  will  be  noted,  are  in  some  instances  included  in  different 
treaties  with  different  tribes. — See  "American  State  Papers,"  Schoolcraft's  "Indian 
Tribes,"  and  Dillon's  "Indiana,"  578. 


PURCHASE   OF   LOUISIANA.  319 

It  was  in  consequence  of  the  success  of  Gov.  Harrison  in 
obtaining  from  the  Indians  the  title  to  their  lands  in  Indiana 
and  Illinois,  that  the  animosity  of  the  Shawnees,  under  Tecum- 
seh  and  the  Prophet,  was  again  aroused,  they  claiming  that  no 
single  tribe  was  invested  with  the  right  to  make  cessions  without 
the  consent  of  all  others  interested.  Their  hostile  attitude  was 
encouraged  by  British  agents  in  order  to  secure  their  alliance 
and  support  in  the  threatened  war  of  1812.  Other  tribes, 
notably  the  Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos,  always  ready  to 
engage  in  a  fight  against  the  Americans,  were  easily  induced  to 
join  the  Shawnees,  thus  forming  a  strong  combination.  The 
defeat  of  the  red  men  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  Nov.  11, 
181 1,  by  Gen.  Harrison,  terminated  the  campaign,  but  left  the 
disaffected  tribes  as  hostile  as  ever. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  securing  cessions  were  increased 
by  the  conflicting  claims  of  different  tribes  to  the  same  tracts. 
And  it  is  especially  noticeable  with  what  uniformity  of  demand 
the  Pottawatomies  appeared  at  every  place  where  negotiations 
were  being  carried  on.  Their  greed  was  only  equaled  by  their 
assurance.  Wherever  there  was  even  an  apparent  opportunity 
to  receive  any  money,  they  were  promptly  "on  hand"  to  put  in 
a  claim,  and,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  table,  generally  succeeded 
in  carrying  off  the  lion's  share. 

The  ownership  of  the  vast  territory  of  the  Northwest,  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  was  adjudicated  by  the  sword;  that  west  of  it, 
together  with  the  destiny  of  the  people  who  lived  upon  it,  was 
the  subject  of  frequent  barter  and  sale  in  the  European  mart 
where  crowned  heads,  at  their  will,  made  and  unmade  nations 
and  empires. 

The  great  Napoleon,  whose  keen  political  vision  scanned  every 
continent  and  whose  unerring  judgment  accurately  weighed  the 
value  of  the  possessions  of  his  rivals,  determined  to  retrieve  the 
error  of  the  P>ourbon  dynasty  in  the  surrender,  in  1763,  of  the 
magnificent  domain  of  Louisiana  to  Spain;  and  by  the  treaty 
of"  Ildefonso,  Sept.  15,  1800,  Spain  was  forced  to  retrocede  that 
territory  to  France,  after  having  owned  it  for  nearly  forty  years. 

Before  the  formal  transfer  was  completed  however,  Napoleon 
was  again  threatened  with  war  by  Great  Britain,  and  reluctantly 
concluded   that  he   would    not   be  able  to  hold   the  province 


220  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

wrested  from  his  southern  neighbor.  He  said,  "I  know  the  full 
value  of  Louisiana,  but  the  English  wish  to  take  possession  of 
it,  and  it  is  thus  they  will  begin  the  war.  They  have  already 
twenty  ships  of  the  line  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  conquest 
of  Louisiana  would  be  easy.  I  have  not  a  moment  to  lose  in 
putting  it  out  of  their  reach.  The  English  have  successively 
taken  from  France  the  Canadas,  Cape  Breton,  New  Foundland, 
Nova  Scotia,  and  the  richest  portion  of  Asia.  But  they  shall 
not  have  the  Mississippi  which  they  covet." - 

The  United  States  also  coveted  it  as  well  as  Great  Britain. 
James  Monroe  and  Robert  Livingston,  our  representatives  at 
Paris,  were  at  first  authorized  to  negotiate  only  for  the  purchase 
of  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas;  Livingston,  indeed,  stated  that 
the  United  States  did  not  desire  the  territory  of  Louisiana. 
Monroe,  however,  was  in  full  possession  of  the  views  of  Presi- 
dent Jefferson,  who  he  knew  strongly  desired  to  acquire  the 
whole  country.  Although  the  United  States  was  young  and 
poor,  and  the  constitution  had  made  no  provision  for  the  pur- 
chase of  or  holding  foreign  territory,  Jefferson  recognizing  the 
value  and  importance  of  the  proposed  acquisition,  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  urge  it  upon  his  ministers,  even  furnishing  them  with 
arguments  to  accomplish  it;  trusting  to  the  people  to  ratify  a 
policy  so  far-reaching,  and  a  purchase  so  manifestly  favorable  to 
the  best  interests  of  his  country. 

When  Napoleon  finally  declared  his  inflexible  purpose  to 
dispose  of  the  territory,  the  negotiation  was  speedily  concluded, 
April  30,  1803,  and  the  United  States  became  the  owner  of 
Louisiana  and  West  Florida  for  $15,000,000.  Spain  surrendered 
possession  to  France,  Nov.  13,  and  France  to  the  Unit^J  States, 
Dec.  20,  1803.  Napoleon  not  only  received  more  than  he  at 
first  asked  for  Louisiana,  but  was  rejoiced  to  find  a  purchaser  in 
the  American  Republic,  remarking  that  "  this  accession  of  terri- 
tory strengthens  forever  the  power  of  the  United  States.  I  have 
given  England  a  rival." 

By  act  of  March  26,  1804,  all  that  portion  of  Louisiana  lying 
north  of  the  thirty-third  degree  of  n^vth  latitude  and  west 
of  the  Mississippi  River  was  annexed  to  Indiana  Territory 
for  the  purposes  of  government;  and  the  govenor  and  judges 

*  James  G.  Blaine's  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  I,  6. 


AARON   BURR   IN    THE   WEST.  221 

in  October,  following,  framed  the  necessary  laws  for  that  district. 
This  consolidation  of  the  old  Illinois  country  under  one  juris- 
diction, only  continued,  however,  until  the  following  March, 
when  a  separate  organization  was  provided  by  congress  for  the 
Louisiana  Territory. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  the  name  of  Aaron  Burr  became 
prominently  connected  with  the  history  of  the  West.  He  had 
been  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  Revolution,  and  had  tied 
Thomas  Jefferson  in  the  electoral  college  as  a  candidate  for  presi- 
dent. He  was  neither  a  great  lawyer  nor  a  profound  statesman, 
but  the  brilliancy  of  his  intellect  and  the  fascination  of  his 
address  were  acknowledged  by  all  who  came  under  the  charm 
of  his  magnetic  presence.  The  true  story  of  his  life,  public  and 
private,  more  like  a  romance  than  a  recital  of  prosaic  facts,  has 
never  been  written.  The  odium  attached  to  his  name  after  his 
causeless  duel  with  Alexander  Hamilton,  July  11,  1804,  was  so 
great  as  to  annihilate  all  his  prospects  of  political  preferment  in 
the  East  where  his  public  career  ended  with  the  termination  of 
his  vice-presidential  term,  March  4,  1805.  Such  was  the  power 
of  his  eloquence  notwithstanding  the  obloquy  resting  upon  him, 
that  at  the  close  of  his  valedictory  address  the  whole  senate  was 
in  tears,  and  the  senators  so  unmanned  that  it  was  half  an  hour 
before  they  could  recover  themselves  and  resume  their  ordinary 
business.* 

Burr  was  unable  to  stem  the  tide  of  opposition,  which  had  set 
in  against  him,  and  to  use  his  own  language:  "  In  New  York,  I 
am  to  be  disfranchised,  and  in  New  Jersey,  hanged.  Having 
substantial  objections  to  both,  I  shall  not  for  the  present  hazard 
either,  but  shall  seek  another  country."*  His  friends  urged  him 
to  seek  new  fortunes  in  the  Southwest  where  his  reputation  as 
duelist  would  rather  advance  than  mar  his  prospects.  They 
even  offered  to  assist  him  to  an  election  to  congress  from  the 
territory  of  Indiana  or  from  some  district  in  Kentucky  or  Ten- 
nessee. He  soon  thereafter  visited  these  states,  where  his 
admirable  tact,  ready  wit,  and  courteous  affability  so  endeared 
him  to  the  people  that  his  reception  by  them  resembled  an 
ovation.  New  Orleans  had  vied  with  Nashville,  and  Louisville 
with  Lexington  in  paying  him  homage.     He  captivated,  as  he 

*  Davis'  "Memoirs  of  Aaron  Burr." 


222  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

was  entertained  by  their  leading  citizens.  His  reception  grati- 
fied his  vanity  and  excited  his  ambition.  Schemes  for  advance- 
ment to  wealth  and  power,  some  of  them  as  visionary  as  bold, 
presented  themselves  to  his  heated  imagination.  The  first  of 
these  was  to  locate  a  colony  of  choice  spirits  in  Louisiana,  for 
which  purpose  he  purchased  750,000  acres  of  land  on  the  Washita, 
a  tributary  of  the  Red  River.  He  paid  $5000  down  for  it  out  of 
his  own  pocket,  and  the  balance  of  the  purchase-money  $45,000 
was  readily  raised  by  accommodating  and  admiring  friends  in 
Kentucky. 

His  success  in  this  direction  stimulated  his  mind  to  the  con- 
ception of  still  grander  and  more  far-reaching  schemes.  He 
fixed  his  eye  upon  Mexico.  The  separation  of  this  province 
from  Spain  had  been  a  cherished  project  ever  since  the  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  of  Gen.  Miranda,  in  1797-8,  to  enlist  the  govern- 
ments of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  the  scheme  of 
revolutionizing  South  America.  The  difficulties  between  Spain 
and  the  United  States  growing  out  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi,  had  reached  such  a  point  that  war  with  that  country 
now  seemed  inevitable.  It  was  a  critical  and  exciting  period. 
The  people  of  the  West  were  in  a  state  of  ferment,  and  a  large 
element  was  ripe  to  engage  in  plans  of  revolt  or  conquest. 
The  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans  had  never  acquiesced  in  this 
transfer  of  their  territory  to  the  United  States,  and  were  willing 
listeners  to  any  proposition  which  would  place  them  under  some 
other  flag.  The  plan  of  forming  Mexico  into  an  independent 
republic,  whose  leading  officers  should  be  Americans,  with  Col. 
Burr  at  the  head,  was  popular  and  seemed  feasible,  if  the  nec- 
essary men  and  means  could  be  raised.  Gen.  James  Wilkinson, 
then  at  the  head  of  the  army,  the  available  portion  of  which  had 
by  him  been  lately  transferred  to  the  Sabine  River,  was  con- 
sulted, and  no  doubt  at  first  entered  heartily  into  Col.  Burr's 
plans.  Conferences  were  had  with  him,  in  1806,  at  Fort  Massac 
and  St.  Louis.  Consultations  were  had  also  with  Gen.  Andrew 
Jackson  and  Gov.  Wm.  H.  Harrison,  and  other  leading  citizens. 
Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes  were  visited.  Large  sums  of  money 
were  promised,  and  recruits  were  raised  and  enrolled,  and  Blen- 
nerhassett's  Island  appointed  as  a  place  of  rendezvous.  Just 
what  the  great  agitator  intended  to  accomplish  remains  :«i  doubt. 


AARON    BURR.  223 

At  New  Orleans,  it  is  alleged,  he  openly  avowed  his  intention 
to  divide  the  American  Union.  With  some,  his  theme  was  the 
settlement  of  his  colony  on  the  Wishita,  with  others,  he  held  out 
to  view  the  inviting  prospect  of  a  new  republic  in  Mexico. 

On  Nov.  3,  1806,  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  while  on  his  way  to- 
join  his  expedition,  he  was  arrested  "for  treasonable  practices," 
but  the  grand-jury  refused  to  indict  him.  On  Nov.  27,  1806, 
President  Jefferson  having  received  what  he  declared  was  suffi- 
cient information  of  the  treasonable  character  of  Col.  Burr's 
expedition,  issued  his  proclamation  warning  all  loyal  citizens 
against  engaging  therein.  In  December,  Burr  left  Nashville 
with  but  two  boats  to  effect  a  junction  with  Blennerhassett's 
fleet  of  nine  barges  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland,  whence 
they  proceeded  down  the  Mississippi.  At  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  a 
post  commanded  by  Lieut.  (Jacob  ?)  Jackson,  it  is  said,  that 
officer  was  strongly  urged  to  join  him,  but  he  firmly  declined. 
Becoming  convinced  that  his  situation  was  now  desperate,  he 
boldly  declared  that  the  sole  object  of  his  expedition  was  to 
plant  his  colony  in  Louisiana;  and  he  destroyed  the  evidence  of 
its  military  character  by  throwing  his  chests  of  arms  into  the 
river.  On  Jan.  17,  he  gave  himself  up  to  Gov.  Cowles  Mead, 
acting-governor  of  Mississippi  Territory,  but  the  grand-jury 
declared  there  was  no  evidence  against  him,  and  pending  his 
request  to  be  released  on  his  own  recognizance,  learning  that  he 
would  again  be  arrested,  he  disguised  himself  and  escaped.  He 
was  re-arrested  in  Alabama,  and  taken  to  Richmond,  Virginia, 
for  trial.  It  was  a  celebrated  case,  attracting  world-wide  atten- 
tion, and  resulted,  as  is  well  known,  in  a  verdict  of  acquittal, 
under  the  rulings  of  the  court,  that  the  prisoner  must  have  been 
present  when  the  overt  act  was  committed,  which  fact  was  not 
established. 

Burr  was  more  of  a  hero  than  a  prisoner  while  undergoing 
this  trial.  His  rooms  in  the  jail  were  daily  crowded  with  friends 
and  admirers  of  both  sexes,  who  brought  him  the  best  of  the 
land  to  live  on,  and  loaded  his  table  with  flowers  and  fruits. 
As  to  the  main  charge,  Burr  on  his  death- bed,  in  answer  to  the 
question  if  he  had  at  any  time  contemplated  a  disruption  of  the 
Union,  replied:  "No;  I  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  taking 
possession  of  the  moon  and  informing  my  friends  that  I  intended 


224  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

to  divine  it  among  them."  Still  the  popular  verdict  was  against 
him,  and  the  cloud  which  hung  over  him  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  has  never  lifted. 

On  Sept.  ii,  1804,  an  election  was  held  in  the  Territory  to 
decide  upon  the  proposition  to  advance  the  government  to  the 
second  grade.  Only  400  votes  were  polled  of  which  a  majority 
of  138  were  in  its  favor — Randolph  County,  with  61  votes,  gave 
a  majority  of  19  in  favor  of,  and  St.  Clair,  with  81  votes,  re- 
turned a  majority  of  37  against,  the  proposition.  An  election 
of  delegates  to  the  first  territorial  general  assembly  was  held 
on  Jan.  3,  1805.  The  members  elected  from  St.  Clair  County 
were  Shadrach  Bond,  sr.,  and  William  Biggs;  S.  Bond,  sr., 
becoming  a  member  of  the  legislative  council,  S.  Bond,  jr.,  in 
May,  was  elected  in  his  place.  From  Randolph  County,  George 
Fisher  was  returned.  The  body  met  at  Vincennes,  Feb.  7,  1805; 
and  having  recommended  a  list  of  persons  from  whom  to  select 
a  legislative  council,  adjourned.  Those  finally  appointed  from 
Illinois  were  Pierre  Menard  and  John  Hay.  On  July  29,  the 
assembly  again  convened  in  regular  session.  Provision  was 
made  for  a  revision  of  the  territorial  laws  by  John  Rice  Jones 
and  John  Johnson.  This  revision  was  published  in  one  volume, 
and  included  the  laws  passed  at  that  session.  Benjamin  Parke 
was  elected  territorial  delegate  to  congress. 

The  second  session  of  the  territorial  legislature  began  Aug. 
17,  1807.  The  members  from  St.  Clair  County  were  William 
Biggs  and  Shadrach  Bond,  jr.;  and  from  Randolph  County, 
George  Fisher. 

The  question  of  the  division  of  the  Territory  had  been  for 
some  years  a  subject  of  exciting  and  acrimonious  controversy. 
Upon  a  petition  to  congress  in  1806,  praying  for  separation,  a 
committee  of  the  house  reported  that  it  was  at  that  time 
"inexpedient."  A  special  session  of  the  territorial  legislature 
was  called  to  meet  on  Sept.  27,  1808,  when  this  subject  once 
more  became  an  issue  of  absorbing  interest.  In  the  meantime 
fortuitous  circumstances  had  occurred  which  now  insured  its 
favorable  consideration.  Pierre  Menard  from  Randolph  County, 
and  John  Hay  from  St.  Clair  County,  having  resigned  from  the 
council,  Shadrach  Bond  and  George  Fisher,  members  of  the 
house,  were  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancies  thus  created.      A 


GOVERNOR   HARRISON.  225 

special  election,  being  ordered  in  these  two  counties,  resulted  in 
the  choice  of  Rice  Jones  from  Randolph  and  John  Messinger 
from  St.  Clair,  thus  replacing  two  opponents  of  separation  by- 
two  zealous  advocates  of  that  measure.  Jesse  Burgess  Thomas, 
member  of  the  house  from  Dearborn  County  and  speaker  of 
that  body,  was  a  candidate  for  congress,  to  the  successful  issue 
of  which  question  he  was  willing  to  subordinate  all  others.  He 
found  it  not  difficult  therefore  to  effect  a  combination  with 
those  who  cared  more  for  division  than  for  a  choice  of  congress- 
man, looking  to  the  accomplishment  of  both  purposes.  The 
bargain  was  struck  and  as  has  been  asserted  a  written  obligation 
from  the  beneficiary  for  its  faithful  performance  was  exacted. 
However  this  may  have  been,  the  agreement  was  promptly  and 
scrupulously  carried  out. 

The  final  passage  of  the  act  of  separation  on  Feb.  3  1809, 
renders  it  unnecessary  longer  to  follow  in  this  work  the  fortunes 
of  Gen.  Harrison.  His  military  career,  and  skilful  treatment 
of  the  Indian  complications  of  the  Northwest,  fairly  earned  for 
him  a  reputation  as  broad  as  it  has  proved  lasting.  He  was  a 
statesman  of  the  old  school.  Opposed  to  slavery  in  the  abstract 
yet  he  was  willing  to  introduce  the  institution  into  Indiana  and 
Illinois.  How  he  subsequently  became  a  prominent  member  of 
congress,  and  finally  reached  the  presidential  chair,  are  familiar 
facts,  calling  for  no  further  reference  in  this  volume. 

Authorities:  Dillon's  "History  of  Indiana";  "History  of  Randolph  and  St. 
Clair  Counties";  United-States  compilation  of  "Indian  Treaties";  Blaine's  "  Twenty 
Years  in  Congress";  "Magazine of  Western  History";  Hammond's  "Political  History 
of  New  York";  Foote's  "Texas  and  Texans";  Schoolcraft's  " Indian  Tribes"; Davis' 
"Memoirs  of  Aaron  Burr";  "American  State  Papers";  "Indiana,  a  Redemption 
from  Slavery, "  by  J.  P.  Dunn,  jr. 


IS 


CHAPTER   XV. 

The  Territory  of  Illinois — First  American  Settlers — Early- 
Diseases— Manners,  Customs,  and  Recreations — First 
Preachers,  Lawyers,  Doctors,  and  Merchants. 

THE  Act  of  Congress  of  Feb.  3,  1809,  dividing  Indiana 
Territory  into  two  separate  governments,  revived  the  name 
of  Illinois,  which  had  officially  disappeared  after  the  organization 
of  the  Northwest  Territory  in  1789.  It  was  a  name  dear  to 
the  inhabitants,  however,  had  become  familiar  by  long  usage, 
and  was  never  willingly  surrendered.  Judge  Thomas  was  there- 
fore but  carrying  out  the  unanimous  wishes  of  its  inhabitants, 
when,  seizing  upon  the  first  opportunity  which  offered,  he 
secured  the  restoration  of  the  old  name,  as  that  by  which  the 
"Illinois  Country"  was  henceforth  to  be  designated. 

The  language  of  the  Act  was  as  follows:  "That  from  and 
after  the  first  day  of  March  next,  all  that  part  of  the  Indiana 
Territory  which  lies  west  of  the  Wabash  River  and  Post  Vin- 
cennes,  due  north  to  the  territorial  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  temporary  govern- 
ment, constitute  a  separate  government,  and  be  called  Illinois." 
The  seat  of  government  was  established  at  Kaskaskia. 

No  history  of  Illinois  could  claim  to  be  complete  which  failed 
to  make  mention  of  that  sturdy  element  in  the  first  settlement 
of  the  country,  which  exercised  an  influence  so  potent  in  the 
development  of  its  virgin  resources,  and  which  constituted  at 
once  the  prototype  and  the  example  of  that  class  honored  to- 
day from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Ohio  as  the  "American  pioneer." 

At  the  time  of  Clark's  conquest  there  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  any  but  French  inhabitants,  except  the  party  of  hunters 
who  joined  his  expedition,  and  Thos.  Brady  and  Rich'd  McCarty, 
already  mentioned,  who  resided  at  Cahokia  in  1777.  Aside 
from  the  members  of  Clark's  command,  some  of  whom  doubt- 
less remained  continuously  in  the  country,  the  first  original  im- 
migrant appears  to  have  been  Capt.  Nathaniel  Hull,  from  Mas- 
sachusetts.    Then  a  young  man,  he  at  first  settled  on  the  Ohio, 

226 


FIRST   AMERICAN   SETTLERS,  227 

at  a  point  near  the  present  site  of  Golconda.  His  place  was 
called  Hull's  Landing.  He  laid  out  the  first  road  to  Kaskaskia, 
along  which  he  soon  journeyed  in  search  of  a  new  home,  which 
he  found  in  the  American  Bottom.  He  was  a  patriotic,  leading, 
and  influential  citizen,  always  ready  to  repel  Indian  aggressions, 
and  faithfully  to  discharge  the  official  duties  he  was  called  upon 
to  perform.  He  raised  a  large  family,  and  well  improved  his 
farm,  where  he  died  in  1806. 

In  178 1,  an  enterprising  company  of  immigrants,  consisting 
of  James  Moore  the  leader,  James  Garrison,  Shadrach  Bond,  sr., 
Robert  Kidd,  Larkin  Rutherford,  and  James  Piggott,  with  their 
families,  came  from  Maryland,  and  settled  on  the  American 
Bottom — this  name  originating  with  them.  All  of  them,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  Garrison,  had  been  soldiers  under 
Clark,  and  it  was  the  glowing  descriptions  of  the  natural  advan- 
tages of  the  country  which  they,  and  others  of  Clark's  com- 
mand, gave  on  their  return,  that  induced  so  large  an  emigration 
from  Virginia  and  Maryland,  of  which  this  party  formed  but  the 
advance  guard. 

Before  and  during  1783,  the  following  additional  soldiers  in 
the  Clark  campaign  had  also  become  inhabitants;  William  Biggs, 
Robert  Seybold,  Jacob  Groots,  John  Hiltebrand,  John  Dodge, 
George  Camp,  Levi  Teel,  James  Curry,  Robert  Whitehead, 
George  Lunceford,  Joseph  Anderson,  David  Pagon,  John  Doyle, 
John  Montgomery,  Thomas  Hughes,  and  William  Murray,  who 
settled  in  and  near  Kaskaskia. 

The  New-Design  settlement  was  begun  in  1782,  and  included 
a  number  of  those  whose  names  have  been  mentioned  above. 
It  was  located  on  a  beautiful  elevation  overlooking  both  the 
Mississippi  and  Kaskaskia  rivers,  about  four  miles  south  of  Belle- 
fontaine,  where  Moore  and  others  of  his  party  had  settled. 

A  settlement  was  also  made  about  the  same  time  east  of  the 
Kaskaskia  River,  by  Henry  and  Elijah  Smith,  Daniel  Hicks, 
Hayden  Wells,  Leonard  Harness,  Michael  Huff,  James  Hender- 
son, and  Isaac  Chalfin.  These  were  soon  reinforced  by  the  fol- 
lowing: William  Arundel,  at  Cahokia,  John  Seeley,  Francis  and 
John  Clark,  John  Edgar,  Joseph  Ogle,  Joseph  Worley,  James 
Andrews,  James  Lemon,  James  McRoberts,  George  Atchison, 
David  Waddle,   Ichabod  Camp,   Henry  Golding,  Thomas  and 


228  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Elijah  Flanary,  John  McElmuny,  John  Murdoch  or  Moredock, 
(two  of  this  name,)  Jacob  and  Samuel  Judy,  Benjamin  Ogle, 
John  Cook,  and  John  K.  Simpson,  who  settled  at  one  of  the 
above-named  places  or  at  Kaskaskia. 

From  1780  to  1788,  inclusive,  there  were,  according  to  the 
reports  of  the  Commissioners  to  Congress  confirming  their 
claims  to  donations  of  land,  under  the  act  of  congress,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  American  heads  of  families  in  the  Territory. 

Prior  to  this  time,  owing  to  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Indians, 
only  the  hardiest  and  boldest  pioneers  ventured  to  immigrate; 
but  with  the  treaty  of  Greenville  came  the  blessings  of  peace, 
and  although  the  difficulties  in  regard  to  land-titles  were  a  seri- 
ous hindrance,  yet  many  settlers  from  the  older  states,  attracted, 
by  the  reports  of  the  extraordinary  productiveness  of  the  soil, 
continued  to  come  in.' 

Among  the  arrivals  in  1797  was  a  colony  from  Virginia, 
headed  by  Rev.  David  Bagley,  numbering  one  hundred  and 
fifty-four.  The  season  was  unusually  wet,  and  the  hardships 
and  exposures  of  the  journey  left  them  in  but  a  poor  condition 
to  begin  life  in  a  new  country  where  there  were  no  houses  to  be 
occupied,  nor  any  of  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life  to  be  procured. 
A  malignant  fever  broke  out  among  them,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  half  the  colony.  A  prevalent  disease  at  that  day,  and 
for  many  years  afterward,  and  one  to  which  all  new-comers  in 
such  a  rich  country  are  liable,  was  what  was  called  the  "  fever 
and  ague,"  which  was  produced  by  the  malaria  arising  from 
decaying  vegetable  matter  in  the  early  Fall.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, a  fatal  disease,  and  generally  yielded  to  the  then  universal 
remedies  of  "  tartar  emetic,  calomel  and  jalap,  and  Peruvian 
bark. 

Another  disease  peculiar  to  these  early  times  was  known  as 
the  "  milk-sick"  which,  it  was  claimed,  was  induced  by  drinking 
the  milk,  or  eating  the  butter  or  meat  of  an  animal  infected  with 
the  poison.  What  this  poison  was  could  not  be  ascertained,  the 
general  supposition  being  that  it  was  emitted  from  some  mineral 
substance  which,  rising  in  a  gaseous  form  covered  vegetation  or 
infused  itself  in  the  matter,  thus  communicating  disease.  It  was 
generally  fatal  to  both  man  and  beast.  The  experience  of 
these  new  settlers  very  naturally  gave  rise  to  the  report  that 


EARLY   SETTLERS.  229 

Illinois  was  a  sickly  country,  which  rumor  for  some  time  pro- 
duced a  marked  effect  upon  the  tide  of  immigration. 

Important  additions  were  made  to  the  population  from  1790 
to  1800  by  the  arrival  of  the  following  settlers:  John  Rice  Jones, 
Pierre  Menard,  Shadrach  Bond,  jr.,  William,  James  and  Robert 
Morrison,  John  and  Israel  Dodge,  John  Hays,  John  Hay,  James 
McRoberts,  William,  John  and  Samuel  Whiteside,  Joseph  and 
William  Kinney,  Isaac  Darnielle,  Rev.  John  Clark,  John  de 
Moulin,  Robert  Reynolds,  John  Messenger,  Ur.  George  Fisher, 
William  Goings,  sr.  and  jr.,  R.  E.  Heacock,  John  T.  Lusk,  John, 
William,  Stephen,  and  Nelson  Rector,  Dr.  William  L.  Reynolds, 
Benj.  H.  Doyle,  James  Haggin,  William  Mears,  Dr.  Caldwell 
Cairnes,  Dr.  Wallace,  Dr.  Truman  Tuttle,  Nicholas  Jarrot,  John 
Pulliam  and  Dr.  James  Rose,  nearly  all  of  whom  afterward 
became  well  known,  and  officially  connected  with  either  the 
territorial  or  state  governments. 

In  1805,  a  colony  of  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  arrived  from 
South  Carolina:  the  Andersons,  Thompsons,  Erwin,  MacDonald, 
McBride,  Cox,  Miller,  Couch,  and  others,  which  in  a  few  years 
increased  to  forty  families. 

Immigration  was  further  stimulated  in  consequence  of  the 
conclusion  of  treaties  with  the  Indians  in  1803 -4- 5,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  land-office  at  Kaskaskia,  in  1804. 

The  larger  proportion  of  these  first-American  settlers  came 
from  Virginia  and  Maryland.  While  a  few  had  received  a 
rudimentary  education,  and  had  lived  among  communities  which 
may  be  said  to  have  been  comparatively  cultured,  the  most  of 
them  were  hardy,  rough,  uncultivated  backwoods-men.  They 
had  been  accustomed  only  to  the  ways  of  the  frontier  and  camp. 
Many  of  them  had  served  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  all 
of  them  in  the  border  wars  with  the  Indians.  While  they  were 
brave,  hospitable,  and  generous,  they  were  more  at  ease  beneath 
the  forest  bivouac  than  in  the  "living-room"  of  the  log-cabin,  and 
to  swing  a  woodman's  ax  among  the  lofty  trees  of  the  primeval 
forest  was  a  pursuit  far  more  congenial  to  their  rough  nature 
and  active  temperament  than  to  mingle  with  society  in  settled 
communities.  Their  habits  and  manners  were  plain,  simple,  and 
unostentatious.  Their  clothing  was  generally  made  of  the 
dressed  skins  of  the  deer,  wolf,  or  fox,  while  those  of  the  buffalo 


230  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

and  elk  supplied  them  with  covering  for  their  feet  and  heads. 
Their  log-cabins  were  destitute  of  glass,  nails,  hinges,  or  locks. 
Their  furniture  and  utensils  were  in  harmony  with  the  primitive 
appearance  and  rude  character  of  their  dwellings,  being  all 
home-made,  with  here  and  there  a  few  pewter  spoons,  dishes, 
and  iron  knives  and  forks.  With  muscles  of  iron  and  hearts  of 
oak,  they  united  a  tenderness  for  the  weak  and  a  capability  for 
self-sacrifice,  worthy  of  an  ideal  knight  of  chivalry;  and  their 
indomitable  will,  which  recognized  no  obstacle  as  insuperable, 
was  equaled  only  by  their  rugged  integrity  which  regarded  dis- 
honesty as  an  offence  as  contemptible  as  cowardice.  For  many 
years  they  dwelt  beyond  the  pale  of  governmental  restraint,  nor 
did  they  need  the  presence  of  either  courts  or  constables. 
Crimes  against  person,  property,  or  public  order  were  of  so 
infrequent  occurrence  as  to  be  practically  unknown.  In  moral 
endowments — even  if  not  in  mental  attainments — these  sturdy 
pioneers  of  Illinois  were,  it  must  be  admitted,  vastly  superior  to 
many  of  those  who  followed  them  when  better  facilities  for 
transportation  rendered  the  country  more  accessible. 

Although  the  distance  from  the  older  states  was  so  great,  and 
the  modes  of  conveyance  so  slow,  and  notwithstanding  the 
reports  of  an  unhealthy  climate,  and  the  efforts  of  the  Ohio 
Land  Association,  and  proprietors  of  the  Western  -  Reserve 
country  to  attract  purchasers  to  their  localities  by  offering  them 
lands  at  the  low  price  of  forty  cents  per  acre,  the  rich  prairies  of 
Illinois  proved  a  superior  inducement,  and  immigrants  continued 
to  pour  in.  Gradually  but  surely,  old  settlements  were  ex- 
tended and  new  ones  formed  in  what  afterward  became  Madi- 
son, Pope,  Alexander,  and  Gallatin  counties,  and  the  white 
population  which,  in  1800,  did  not  exceed  2500,  in  18 10  num- 
bered  12,282. 

Freed  from  the  fear  of  Indian  depredations,  by  the  formal  ex- 
ecution of  treaties,  they  found  time  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace. 
Land  was  reclaimed,  farms  improved,  and  trade  extended.  Al- 
though the  officers  and  general  administration  of  the  territorial 
government  had  been  so  far  away  as  to  exercise  over  them  but 
a  nominal  control,  yet  a  knowledge  of  its  existence  had  given 
them  hope  of  the  adoption  of  regulations  better  suited  to  their 
advancement  when  its  arm  should  reach  and  embrace  them. 


CUSTOMS   AND   CHARACTERISTICS.  23  I 

The  people  generally  had  no  costly  tastes  to  gratify,  no 
expensive  habits  to  indulge.  They  neither  possessed  nor  cared 
for  luxuries.  Their  living,  such  as  they  required,  cost  but  little 
of  either  time  or  labor.  The  corn  from  which  they  made  their 
bread,  came  forth  from  the  prolific  soil  at  the  touch  of  their  rude 
plows.  Their  cattle  and  hogs  found  abundant  sustenance  on 
the  broad  prairies  —  which  in  the  summer  yielded  the  richest 
grass  —  and  from  the  woods,  where  in  the  fall  the  ground  was 
covered  with  mast.  They  raised  flax  and  cotton,  and  their 
sheep  furnished  them  wool,  from  which  the  women  manufactured 
their  homespun  garments,  which  were  sufficient  for  their  wants 
and  tastes. 

Of  leisure  they  had  a  superabundance,  and  it  was  cheerfully 
devoted  to  mutual  assistance,  without  thought  of  recompense 
except  in  kind.  Thus  the  labor  of  house-raising,  harvesting, 
and  plowing  was  rendered  light  by  "changing  work"  and  assist- 
ing each  other.  And  if  any  one  fell  behind  through  sickness, 
or  other  misfortune,  his  neighbors  would  "  turn  in  and  help  him 
out,"  making  the  occasion  a  frolic,  thus  mingling  labor  with 
amusement. 

If  a  field  of  flax  was  to  be  pulled,  or  of  wheat  to  be  cut,  the 
neighbors  came  in  with  their  wives,  daughters,  and  sons;  and 
while  the  men  were  pulling  the  flax  or  reaping  and  shocking 
the  wheat,  the  women  at  the  house  were  preparing  the  harvest- 
noon  feast.  The  rough  table,  for  which  the  side  and  bottom 
boards  of  the  wagon  were  frequently  used,  was  laid  under  the 
shade  of  a  spreading  tree  in  the  yard.  The  visitors  contributed 
from  their  own  meagre  stock  such  dishes,  knives  and  forks,  and 
spoons  as  might  be  needed.  Around  the  table,  seated  on 
benches,  stools  or  splint-bottom  chairs,  with  such  appetites  as 
could  only  be  gained  from  honest  toil  in  the  open  field,  the 
company  partook  of  the  bounties  before  them. 

These  consisted,  in  addition  to  the  never- failing  cornbread 
and  bacon,  of  bear  and  deer  meat,  of  turkey  or  other  game  in 
its  season,  and  of  an  abundance  of  vegetables,  which  they  called 
"roughness."  The  bread  was  baked  on  "jonny"  or  journey 
boards,  which  gave  it  the  name  of  jonny-cake.  These  boards 
were  smooth,  two  feet  long  and  eight  inches  wide.  The  dough 
was  spread  out  on  the  boards,  which  were  then  placed  before 


232  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

the  fire;  after  one  side  was  baked,  the  dough  was  turned  and 
baked  on  the  other. 

However  it  might  be  abstained  from  at  other  times,  a  harvest 
without  whisky  was  like  a  dance  without  a  fiddle.  It  was  par- 
taken of  by  all — each  one,  male  and  female,  drinking  from  the 
bottle  and  passing  it  to  his  or  her  next  neighbor.  Drinking- 
vessels  were  dispensed  with  as  mere  idle  superfluities.* 

Dinner  over,  the  company  scattered.  The  elders  gathered 
together,  and  seated  or  stretched  themselves  upon  the  ground, 
and  after  the  filling  and  lighting  of  the  inevitable  pipe,  con- 
versation became  general.  The  news  of  the  day — not  always, 
as  may  be  imagined,  very  recent — was  commented  upon,  and 
then,  as  now,  politics  were  sagely  and  earnestly  discussed. 
Stories,  mainly  of  adventure,  were  told;  hair-breadth  escapes 
from  Indian  massacre  were  recounted  and  the  battles  of  the 
Revolution  again  fought  over  beneath  the  spreading  branches 
of  the  trees.  Meanwhile,  the  boys  and  girls  wandered  off  in 
separate  and  smaller  groups,  and  enjoyed  themselves  in  sing- 
ing, and  playing,  and  making  love  as  they  do  today. 

Another  amusement  of  those  days,  and  one  which  did  not  fall 
into  disfavor  for  many  years,  was  what  was  known  as  "shucking 
bees."  To  these  gatherings  were  invited  both  old  and  young. 
Stacks  of  corn  in  the  husk  were  piled  upon  the  ground  near  the 
crib  where  the  golden  ears  were  to  be  finally  stored.  Upon  the 
assemblage  of  the  guests,  those  who  had  "made  a  record"  as  the 
best  corn-huskers  were  appointed  leaders;  each  leader  filled  the 
ranks  of  his  own  party  by  selection  from  the  company  present, 
the  choice  going  to  each  in  rotation.  The  corn  was  divided  into 
piles  of  as  nearly  equal  size  as  might  be,  and  each  party  was 
assigned  its  own  pile.  The  object  of  the  contestants  was  to 
complete  the  husking,  each  of  their  own  allotment;  and  the 
party  first  attaining  this  result  was  declared  the  winner.  The 
lucky  finder  of  a  red  ear  was  entitled  to  a  kiss  from  the  girls. 
The  contest  ended,  supper  followed,  and  after  supper  came  the 
dance.  Swiftly  were  the  tables  stripped  of  dishes,  and  no  less 
quickly  were  they  drawn  aside  and  the  room  swept  by  eager 
hands.  Then  came  the  struggle  for  partners  and  the  strife  to 
be  "  first  on  the  floor."     The  only  music  was  the  violin,  and 

*  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  2d  ed.,  316. 


HABITS   AND   MANNERS.  233 

"fiddlers"  were  in  great  request.  The  figures  most  in  favor 
were  the  reel  and  the  jig,  in  which  all  were  moving  at  the  same 
time,  and  all  participated  with  a  zest  and  abandon  unknown  in 
the  modern  ballroom.  "  They  danced  all  night  till  broad  day- 
light and  went  home  with  the  girls  in  the  morning,"  some  on 
foot,  and  some  on  horseback,  the  only  modes  of  conveyance. 

But  the  amusement  par  excellence  in  those  early  days  was 
horse  -  racing.  This  was  patronized  by  all  classes,  and  turf- 
meetings  brought  out  the  entire  population.  They  were  made 
in  a  great  measure  to  serve  the  purpose  of  the  modern  county- 
fairs.  While  they  exhibited  nothing  save  themselves  and  their 
horses,  trading  of  all  kind  was  transacted,  contracts  entered  into, 
debts  paid,  and  questions  of  the  day  discussed.  Besides  the 
running  of  horses,  that  of  men  was  indulged  in,  as  also  were 
wrestling,  jumping,  and  other  athletic  pastimes.  Whisky  was 
freely  used  and  the  meetings  generally  wound  up  with  "fist  and 
skull,"  "rough-and-tumble"  fights,  in  which  every  advantage 
was  taken,  and  "fouls"  were  unrecognized.  The  excitement  and 
enjoyment  were  most  intense  when  some  rough,  sleepy-looking 
horse  came  out  ahead  in  the  race,  or  some  small,  wiry  man 
gained  the  victory  over  a  large  one  in  a  fight. 

Corn  for  bread  was  broken  in  a  mortar  and  ground  in  a  grater, 
or  hand-mill.  Mills  were  few  and  far  apart,  some  of  the  back- 
settlers  having  to  go  fifty  miles  for  their  grist.  Here  the  saying 
"first  come,  first  served"  originated,  which  frequently  carried  the 
late  arrival  over  the  night,  and  sometimes  prolonged  the  trip  to 
procure  a  few  bushels  of  meal  three  or  four  days.  "Band-mills" 
run  by  horses,  and  small  water-mills,  where  the  situation  per- 
mitted, came  into  use  to  supply  the  demand  of  larger  ones. 
The  building  of  a  good  mill  was  hailed  with  more  satisfaction 
than  that  of  a  church. 

Education  received  but  little  attention.  School-houses,  always 
of  logs,  were  scarcely  to  be  seen.  Schools  were  sometimes 
opened  at  private  houses,  or  at  the  residence  of  the  teacher;  but 
"book  larnin"  was  considered  too  impractical  to  be  of  much 
value. 

While  the  standard  of  morality,  commercial  as  well  as  social, 
was  of  a  high  order,  few  of  these  early  settlers  were  members  of 
any  church.     Many  of  them,  however,  had  been  raised  in  relig- 


234  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

ious  communities  by  Christian  parents,  had  been  taught  to 
regard  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  worship,  and  had  been  early 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  necessity  of  religious  faith  and 
practice.  Many  of  the  prominent  citizens  encouraged  these 
views  by  occasionally  holding  meetings  in  their  cabins,  at  which 
the  scriptures  and  sometimes  sermons  were  read  and  hymns 
sung — but  no  prayers  were  offered.* 

The  first  regular  religious  services  in  the  Territory  were  held 
by  Rev.  James  Smith,  a  Baptist  minister,  who  visited  New  Design 
in  1787.  His  labors  were  measurably  successful,  but  were  ab- 
ruptly terminated.  On  his  way  from  one  blockhouse  to  another 
he  was  captured  by  the  Indians,  and  although  he  was  ransomed 
by  the  payment  of  $170,  by  his  friends,  he  was  satisfied  that 
Illinois  was  not  the  country  to  which  his  duty  called  him,  and, 
while  he  subsequently  visited  the  Territory,  he  transferred  him- 
self and  his  ministrations  to  Kentucky. 

The  next  preacher  to  visit  the  country  was  Rev.  Joseph  Lil- 
lard,  a  Methodist,  also  from  Kentucky,  who,  in  1793,  formed  the 
first  class  in  the  territory,  with  Capt.  Joseph  Ogle  as  leader. 

In  1794,  Rev.  Joseph  Dodge  held  meetings  at  New  Design, 
and  for  the  first  time  the  rite  of  baptism  was  administered  in 
the  Territory.  In  1796,  Rev.  David  Bagley,  who  subsequently 
brought  a  large  colony  from  Virginia  to  Illinois,  with  Joseph 
Chance,  a  lay-elder,  organized,  with  twenty-eight  members,  the 
first  Baptist  church  in  the  Territory.* 

The  first  circuit-preacher  under  the  direction  of  a  conference 
of  the  Methodist-Episcopal  church,  was  Rev.  Berryman  Young, 
in  1804.  He  was  followed  by  Rev.  Joseph  Oglesby,  in  1805, 
and  by  Rev.  Charles  R.  Matheny,  in  i8o6.f  Rev.  Jesse  Walker 
was  also  a  noted  and  successful  circuit-rider  and  presiding-elder 

*  Rev.  John  Milton  Peck  in  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  256. 

+  Charles  R.  Matheny  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1786,  and  while  preaching  read 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  was  a  member  of  the  third  Territorial,  and 
second  State,  general-assemblies.  He  removed  to  Springfield  in  1821,  where  at  one 
time  he  held  the  offices  of  probate  justice,  county  auditor,  clerk  of  the  circuit- 
court,  and  clerk  of  the  county-court.  The  latter  office  he  continued  to  hold  until 
his  death  in  1839.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Noah  W.  Matheny,  who  held  the 
office  until  1873.  At  this  time,  James  H.  Matheny,  another  son,  was  elected  county- 
judge,  a  position  he  still  occupies.  This  is  an  example  of  county  civil-service  that 
is  unprecedented,  and  in  which  the  family  who  have  enjoyed  the  well-earned  distinc- 
tion may  feel  a  just  pride. 


EARLY    PREACHERS.  235 

in  Illinois  from  1806  to  18 18.  In  connection  with  Rev.  Wm.  M. 
McKendree,  afterward  bishop,  he  held  the  first  camp-meetings 
in  Illinois  in  1807. 

Rev.  John  Clark,  a  Scotchman,  was  a  preacher  and  a  school- 
teacher of  those  days,  of  great  usefulness.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Methodist-Episcopal  church,  and  was  the  first 
Protestant  to  cross  the  Mississippi  and  preach  to  the  Americans 
there,  in  1798.*  Other  noted  preachers  of  these  early  times 
were  as  follows:  John  Scripps,  Jacob  Whiteside,  Josiah  Patter- 
son, J.  Nowlen,  A.  Amos,  Elders  John  K.  Simpson,  Wm.  Jones, 
James  Lemon,  sr. 

The  restraining  and  moulding  influence  of  these  early  Christ- 
ian efforts  upon  the  habits  and  morals  of  the  people,  was  in 
every  respect  wholesome  and  beneficial.  The  attention  of  the 
people  was  arrested  and  turned  to  the  study  and  investigation 
of  moral  and  religious  questions,  and  direction  was  given  to 
the  contemplation  of  higher  thoughts  and  a  better  life. 

In  the  meantime,  other  elements  were  introduced  which  effec- 
ted a  radical  change  in  the  habits  of  the  people  for  both  good 
and  evil.  The  first  settlers  lived  in  the  country,  in  the  woods 
and  wilds,  whose  "clearings"  were  far  apart.  Not  one  in  ten  of 
them  had  ever  dwelt  in  any  town,  or  even  visited  one  having  as 
many  as  a  thousand  inhabitants.  And  now  there  came  the  mer- 
chant, the  lawyer,  the  doctor,  and  the  mechanic,  who  resided 
in  the  towns,  which  began  to  grow  and  to  put  on  a  new  life. 
Most  of  these  had  enjoyed  superior  advantages,  so  far  as 
related  to  education,  and  that  worldly  wisdom  which  comes 
from  experience  in  older  communities.  Some  of  them  had  come 
from  across  the  ocean,  and  others  from  the  larger  American 
cities,  bringing  with  them  manners,  customs,  furniture,  and  wares, 
of  which  the  like  had  never  been  seen  by  the  oldest  inhabitant. 

Large  stores  were  opened  in  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  and 
goods  were  supplied  from  these  at  wholesale  and  retail,  to  all 
the  country  around,  including  the  villages  of  St.  Louis,  St.Gene- 
vieve,  and  Cape  Girardeau.  A  large  and  profitable  trade  was 
opened  with  Pittsburg  and  New  Orleans,  by  which,  in  exchange 
for  goods  purchased,  the  flour,  provisions,  lead,  and  furs  of  the 
country  were  marketed  and  exported  in  barges  or  flat-boats. 

*  J.  M.  Peck  in  Reynolds'  'Tioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  2d  ed.,  266. 


2$6  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

And  thus  were  gradually  introduced  the  methods  and  appli- 
ances of  a  more  advanced  civilization.  The  pioneer  and  his  wife, 
hearing  of  these  things,  would  occasionally  "go  to  town"  to  see 
"  the  sights,"  and  would  there  discover  that  there  were  many 
useful  and  convenient  articles  for  the  farm  and  kitchen  which 
might  be  procured  in  exchange  for  their  corn,  bacon,  eggs, 
honey,  and  hides;  and  although  the  shrewd  merchant  was  care- 
ful to  exact  hi§  cent  per  cent,  the  prices  asked  were  little  heeded 
by  the  purchaser  who  was  as  ignorant  of  the  value  of  the  com- 
modities offered,  as  he  was  delighted  with  their  novelty  and 
apparent  usefulness. 

There  was  need  for  but  few  members  of  the  legal  profession 
in  these  early  days.  The  sessions  of  the  courts  were  far  apart, 
and  presented  but  a  beggarly  docket  of  litigated  cases  when  con- 
vened. The  distinction  of  being  the  first  lawyer  in  Illinois  be- 
longs to  John  Rice  Jones,  who  was  a  native  of  Wales,  where  he 
was  born  in  1759,  and  came  to  Kaskaskia  from  Philadelphia  in 
1790;  he  was  a  classical  scholar,  and  possessed  fine  native  abili- 
ties. His  practice  was  large  and  very  remunerative.  He  re- 
moved to  Vincennes  in  1802,  where  he  became  a  member  of 
the  legislative  council  and  assisted  in  a  revision  of  the  territorial 
laws.  Removing  to  the  territory  of  Missouri  in  18 10,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention,  and  subse- 
quently judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  position  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  until  his  death  in  1824.  He  was  the  father  of 
Hon.  George  W.  Jones,  a  former  U.-S.  Senator  from  Iowa. 
Rice  Jones,  a  son  of  John  R.  Jones,  located  in  Kaskaskia  in 
1806.  He  bid  fair  to  become  eminent,  but  was  assassinated  soon 
after  his  arrival. 

Isaac  Darnielle,  the  second  lawyer  to  become  a  resident  of 
Illinois,  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  settled  at  Cahokia  in 
1794;  he  had  received  a  collegiate  education,  and  possessed  a  high 
order  of  intellect;  was  a  fluent  speaker,  of  fine  personal  appear- 
ance and  popular  manners;  a  great  admirer  of  the  fair  sex,  to 
whom  he  paid  court  with  a  greater  devotion  than  to  his  profes- 
sion; was  never  married  according  to  law,  says  Gov.  Reynolds, 
"  but  to  all  appearances  was  never  without  a  wife  or  wives." 
His  irregularities  in  this  direction,  his  only  weakness,  for  he 
neither  drank  nor  gamed,  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  practice, 


FIRST   LAWYERS.  237 

and  to  remove  to  Kentucky,  where  after  teaching  school  for 
some  years,  he  died,  rather  "humbled  and  neglected,"  in  1830, 
aged  60. 

James  Haggin  came  from  Kentucky  in  1804,  to  Kaskaskia, 
where  he  practised  law  for  several  years;  returning  to  Kentucky 
he  became  eminent  in  his  profession. 

Benjamin  H.  Doyle  emigrated  from  Tennessee  in  1805; 
was  appointed  attorney-general  of  the  Territory  in  1809,  but 
soon  after  resigned  his  office  and  left  the  country. 

John  Rector  —  one  of  a  family  of  nine  brothers  —  located  in 
Kaskaskia  in  1806,  and  remained  only  a  few  years  in  the  Ter- 
ritory. 

William  Mears,  an  Irishman  by  birth  (1768),  emigrated  to  Ca- 
hokia  in  1808;  was  clerk  of  the  house  of  representatives  in  18 14, 
was  appointed  attorney-general  in  1800,  and  later  a  judge  of  the 
circuit-court;  was  a  man  of  good  education,  industrious  habits, 
and  an  able  lawyer;  and  died  at  Belleville  in  1824. 

Russel  E.  Heacock  practised  law  in  Kaskaskia  in  1808  ;  and 
removed  to  Jonesboro,  where  he  remained  several  years;  thence 
he  returned  to  New  York,  his  native  state,  and  subsequently 
came  back  to  Illinois,  settling  at  Chicago,  where  he  acquired  a 
large  property;  he  died  of  cholera,  June  28,  1849,  aged  70. 

Nathaniel  Pope  became  a  permanent  resident  of  Kaskaskia 
in  1808,  having  first  settled  at  St.  Genevieve,  Mo.  He  was  born 
at  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1784,  and  was  educated  at  Transylvania 
University,  whence  he  graduated  with  high  honors.  He  read 
law  with  his  brother,  Senator  John  Pope.  In  1809,  he  was 
appointed  secretary  of  Illinois  Territory,  which  position  he  held 
until  1 8 16,  when  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  congress.  Upon 
the  admission  of  Illinois  as  a  state,  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of 
the  United-States  district-court  in  which  office  he  continued 
until  his  death,  November,  1850.  He  was  a  profound  lawyer, 
an  able  legislator,  a  dignified  and  upright,  yet  courteous  judge, 
and  wore  the  ermine  for  over  thirty  years  without  a  stain.  He 
was  the  father  of  Maj.-Gen.  John  Pope. 

Samuel  D.  Davidson  came  from  Kentucky  in  1809.  Gov. 
Reynolds  says  of  him  that  "  he  was  a  decent  young  man,  wrote 
a  beautiful  hand,  but  was  not  much  of  a  lawyer."  He  served 
in  the  war  of  18 12,  and  thereafter  disappeared  from  public  view. 


238  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Joseph  Conway  became  a  resident  of  Kaskaskia  in  1812,  and 
after  the  war,  in  which  he  served,  practised  law  for  some  years. 
He  was  a  senator  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  general  assemblies. 

In  addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  the  following  mem- 
bers of  the  legal  profession,  who  will  be  more  particularly  re- 
ferred to  elsewhere,  became  citizens  of  Illinois  during  its  terri- 
torial existence,  namely,  Thos.  C.  Browne,  John  McLean,  Daniel 
Pope  Cook,  Jeptha  Hardin,  John  Warnock,  Elias  Kent  Kane, 
Robert  K.  McLaughlin,  Alonzo  C.  Stuart,  Joseph  Phillips, 
George  Forquer,  Sidney  Breese,  John  Reynolds,  Thomas  Rey- 
nolds, and  David  Jewett  Baker. 

Among  the  early  physicians,  perhaps  the  most  distinguished 
was  Dr.  George  Fisher,  who  came  from  Virginia,  and  settled  at 
Kaskaskia  before  1800.  He  was  not  only  talented  in  his  pro- 
fession, but  very  popular  with  the  people.  He  served  as  sheriff 
of  Randolph  County,  and  member  of  the  first  and  third  territo- 
rial legislatures,  of  both  of  which  he  was  elected  speaker.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  18 18;  he 
died  on  his  farm  in  1820. 

Dr.  George  Caldwell  was  also  an  eminent  pioneer  physician, 
who  settled  first  on  the  American  Bottom,  near  Fort  Chartres, 
and  afterward  removed  to  Madison  County.  Entering  public 
life,  he  served  as  judge  of  the  County  Court  of  both  St.Clair 
and  Madison  counties,  and  as  a  representative  from  Madison 
in  the  first  and  second  general  assemblies,  and  from  Greene 
County  in  the  third.  He  lived  to  an  old  age,  and  died  in 
Morgan  County. 

Dr.  Wm.  L.  Reynolds  was  also  a  noted  physician,  who  prac- 
tised many  years  very  successfully  at  both  Kaskaskia  and  Ca- 
hokia;  he  came  from  Kentucky,  was  a  classical  scholar,  and 
"regular  bred." 

Dr.  Truman  Tuttle  was  from  the  East,  and  came  to  Illinois 
as  a  surgeon  of  the  U.-S.  Army  in  1802.  He  resigned  his 
position  and  settled  in  Kaskaskia,  afterward  moving  to  Cahokia, 
where  he  became  eminent  in  his  profession.  He  also  filled  the 
office  of  judge  of  the  Court  of  common  pleas  of  St.  Clair  County. 

Still  earlier  physicians,  of  whom  not  so  much  is  known,  were 
Drs.  Wallace  at  New  Design,  and  John  Lyle  at  Cahokia. 

Dr.  James  Rose  settled  in  Kaskaskia  from  Kentucky  in  1805, 


FIRST   PHYSICIANS.  239 

and  had  a  large  practice  for  many  years  ;  removed  to  Belleville 
subsequently,  where  it  is  said  that  "neglecting  his  profession  it 
neglected  him." 

Dr.  Caldwell  Cairnes,  known  as  "a  good  physician"  as  early 
as  1805,  was  from  Pennsylvania.  He  also  entered  into  public 
life  and  represented  Monroe  County  in  the  constitutional  con- 
vention of  18 1 8. 

John  Edgar,  a  native  of  Ireland,  came  to  Kaskaskia  in  1784, 
bringing  with  him  a  stock  of  goods,  and  soon  built  up  an  exten- 
sive trade,  to  which  he  added  the  business  of  milling;  was 
industrious,  intelligent,  and  hospitable,  and  was  at  one  time  the 
wealthiest  man  in  Illinois.  He  filled  many  stations  of  honor 
and  trust,  including  the  position  of  major-general  of  Illinois 
militia.     He  died  at  Kaskaskia,  at  an  advanced  age  in  1832. 

William  Morrison,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  immigrated  from 
Philadelphia  to  Kaskaskia  in  1790.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  enterprise,  and  for  many  years  stood  in  the  foremost 
rank  in  all  the  commercial  transactions  in  the  Territory.  He  had 
large  stores  in  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and  at  other  points,  from 
which  goods  were  shipped  to  St.  Louis,  and  all  the  surrounding 
country.  His  business  extended  even  to  Pittsburg,  New  Orleans, 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He  accumulated  a  large  amount  of 
property.  His  residence  was  a  spacious  stone  house  at  Kas- 
kaskia, where  for  many  years  he  dispensed  a  generous  hospital- 
ity. His  personal  appearance,  we  are  informed,  was  "dignified, 
commanding,  and  prepossessing."  He  dressed  richly,  with  taste 
and  elegance.     He  died  in  April,  1837. 

William  Morrison  was  followed  to  Illinois  by  his  brothers, 
Robert  and  James  in  1798,  by  Jesse  in  1805,  and  by  Samuel  in 
1807*  all  of  whom  became  prominent  merchants  and  influential 
citizens.  Col.  Jas.  Lee  Donaldson  Morrison,  prominent  in  the 
politics  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  was  a  son  of  Robert  Morrison; 
and  Col.  William  R.  Morrison,  for  so  many  years  a  representative 
in  congress  from  the  district  in  which  he  was  born,  is  the  son  of 
Jesse  Morrison  (?). 

.  The  Menards,  Pierre,  Hypolite  and  Francois,  who  were  natives 
of  Quebec,  also  came  to  Kaskaskia  in  1790,  and  became  leading 
traders  and  merchants.  Their  transactions,  including  the  Indian 
trade,  which  they  mostly  controlled,  were  large  and  very  profit- 


240  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

able.     Pierre,  as  will  elsewhere  appear,  also  became  prominent 
in  political  circles. 

Jean  Bte.,  Michael,  and  Francois  Saucier,  whose  father  had 
been  a  French  officer  at  Fort  Chartres,  located  at  Cahokia  in 
1780,  where  they  carried  on  a  large  business.  Daughters  of 
Francois  were  married  to  Col.  Pierre  Menard,  James  and  Jesse 
Morrison,  and  George  Atchison. 

Charles  Gratiot,  another  early  merchant,  was  born  in  Switzer- 
land in  1752.  He  had  been  a  trader  in  Illinois  as  early  as  1774, 
and  was  at  Cahokia  when  it  was  captured  by  Col.  Clark  in  1778. 
He  subsequently  had  stores  at  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia,  from 
which  his  business  extended  to  the  Wabash  and  Maumee  rivers. 
He  removed  to  St.  Louis  in  1784,  where  he  was  a  leading  citizen, 
until  his  death,  April  20,  1817. 

Jean  Frangois  Perry  immigrated  from  France  in  1792,  and 
settling  in  Prairie  du  Pont  soon  became  a  successful  merchant 
and  miller.  He  was  well  educated,  and  filled  various  civil 
offices  in  his  county  very  creditably.  He  was  benevolent,  hos- 
pitable, and  influential;  and  left  a  large  estate  unencumbered 
by  a  single  debt. 

Nicholas  Jarrot,  also  a  native  of  France,  reached  Cahokia  in 
1794.  By  his  ability,  industry,  and  energy,  he  soon  built  up  a 
large  business  both  as  an  Indian  trader  and  local  merchant. 
He  acquired  a  large  fortune,  the  most  of  which  descended  to 
his  heirs.  He  acted  as  justice-of-the-peace,  and  judge  of  the 
county-court  for  many  years.  He  resided  in  a  spacious  brick- 
dwelling,  where  he  raised  a  large  family  and  died  in  1823. 
Vital  Jarrot,  long  prominent  in  St.  Clair  County,  was  his  son. 

The  account-books  of  P.  Menard  &  Co.,  as  probably  those  of 
other  French  merchants,  prior  to  1800,  were  written  in  French, 
and  values  were  generally  expressed  in  piastres,  but  sometimes 
in  pounds  sterling,  and  again  in  dollars  and  "bits"(i2)^  cents.) 

The  articles  charged  were  chiefly  whisky,  sugar,  and  coffee, 
the  prices  for  which  were  the  same  —  that  is  a  pound  of  coffee 
or  sugar  or  a  quart  of  whisky,  cost  two  and  a-half  piastres,  or 
fifty  cents.  Lard  was  25  cents  per  pound,  and  flour  $8  per 
barrel.  Bohea  tea  was  66^3  cents  per  pound,  and  calico,  the 
same  price  per  yard,  and  flannel  50  cents.  In  1797,  it  appears 
that  prices  were  as  follows:  corn  50 cents  per  bushel,  pork  12^ 


FIRST    MERCHANTS.  2/j.I 

cents,  and  hams  25  cents  per  pound,  foolscap  paper  50  cents  per 
quire,  and  nails  31^  cents  per  pound.*  Their  customers  appear 
to  have  been  principally  French  and  Indians. 

Col.  John  de  Moulin,  although  rather  a  speculator  in  land, 
than  a  merchant,  engaged  in  milling  to  some  extent,  and  was  a 
very  conspicuous  and  popular  character  in  his  day.  He  was  a 
Swiss,  but  came  to  Cahokia  in  1788  from  Canada.  He  was  a 
classical  scholar  and  a  good  lawyer.  He  was  judge  of  the  court 
of  probate,  and  presiding  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  in 
St.  Clair  County  for  many  years.  The  Colonel  was  a  fine- 
appearing  and  well-preserved  gentleman  of  the  old  school. 
He  had  no  family,  and  died  in  1808. 

The  first  American  merchant  in  Cahokia  was  Wm.  Arundel. 
He  located  there  in  1783,  having  previously  been  engaged  in 
business  at  Peoria.  He  was  of  Irish  descent,  of  fair  education, 
and  agreeable  manners. 

William  Kinney,  lieutenant-governor  in  1826,  although  begin- 
ning life  as  a  farmer,  at  an  early  day  tried  the  experiment  of  a 
country  store.  His  venture  was  successful,  and  he  gradually 
built  up  a  large  and  prosperous  business.  He  early  conceived 
a  fondness  for  political  life,  and  his  public  career  will  be  here- 
after noticed. 

Gov.  Edwards  was  the  foremost  merchant  of  his  day.  Aban- 
doning the  practice  of  law  after  his  removal  to  the  Territory, 
he  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  on  a  most  extensive  scale. 
He  established  saw  and  grist  mills,  and  stores  in  Kaskaskia, 
Belleville,  Carlisle,  Alton,  and  Springfield  in  Illinois,  and  at 
St.  Louis,  Chariton,  and  Franklin  in  Missouri;  he  gave  them 
his  personal  attention  so  far  as  was  consistent  with  his  official 
duties,  himself  purchasing  the  immense  stocks  of  goods  required 

Mather  and  Lamb — a  firm  composed  of  Col.  Thomas  Mather 
and  James  L.  Lamb,  at  a  later  period  were  extensive  merchants 
at  Kaskaskia,  with  branches  at  several  other  points.  They  were 
the  first  pork-packers  in  Illinois;  and  both  afterward  removed 
to  Springfield,  where  the  Colonel  became  president  of  the  bank 
and  Lamb  continued  to  manage  their  large  business. 

*  From  original  MSS.  in  possession  of  Chicago  Historical  Society,  Vol.  6l. 

Authorities :  "  Laws  of  Congress  ";  "  American  State  Papers  ";  Reynolds'  "  Pioneer 
History  of  Illinois";  "History  of  Sangamon  County";  Dillon's  "Indiana." 

16 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Illinois  Territory  [Continued] — Its  Organization— Governor 
Edwards  and  other  Officers — Indian  Disturbances — 
The  War  of  1812  —  The  Chicago  Massacre  —  Cam- 
paigns against  the  Indians — Peace. 

FOR  the  people  whose  primitive  customs  have  been  described 
in  the  foregoing  chapter,  a  government  was  now  to  be 
organized  within  the  limits  of  their  own  newly-created  Terri- 
tory;—  its  chief  seat  was  to  be  at  their  own  largest  town,  and 
they  were  to  be  brought  into  more  direct  contact  with  the 
machinery  of  courts  and  the  mysterious  forms  of  law  with  which 
they  had  heretofore  been  but  distantly  related,  and  for  which, 
indeed  they  had  had  but  little  need.  Whatever  benefit  was  to 
be  derived  therefrom,  they  were  anxiously  waiting  to  receive. 

John  Boyle,  associate-justice  of  the  Kentucky  court  of  appeals, 
was  at  first  appointed  governor  of  the  newly-formed  Territory, 
but,  preferring  to  remain  on  the  bench,  he  declined  the  proffered 
honor. 

Ninian  Edwards,  chief- justice  of  the  same  court,  upon  the 
recommendation  of  Senator  John  Pope  of  Kentucky,  and  of 
Henry  Clay,  late  a  U.-S.  senator  and  soon  to  reoccupy  that 
position,  thereupon  received  the  appointment  from  President 
Madison,  April  24,  1809. 

Nathaniel  Pope,  heretofore  mentioned,  was  appointed  secre- 
tary of  the  Territory,  March  7.  In  the  absence  of  the  governor, 
who  was  detained  in  Kentucky  closing  up  his  affairs,  preparatory 
to  removal,  the  secretary  proceeded  to  organize  the  government, 
April  28,  by  proclamation,  reestablishing  the  counties  of  St. 
Clair  and   Randolph,  with  their  existing  boundaries. 

The  first-appointed  territorial  judges  were  Alexander  Stuart, 
Obadiah  Jones,  and  Jesse  Burgess  Thomas,  late  delegate  to 
congress  from  the  territory  of  Indiana.  Judge  Stuart  being 
transferred  to  Missouri,  Stanley  Griswold  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him. 

Gov.  Edwards  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  early  in  June,  and  soon 

242 


^y 


GOV.    NINIAN    EDWARDS.  243 

thereafter  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties. 
The  precedent  of  appointing  distinguished  and  influential  citi- 
zens to  the  office  of  territorial  governor  had  not  been  departed 
from  in  his  selection.  The  son  of  Benjamin  Edwards,  he  was 
born  in  Maryland,  March  17,  1775.  His  early  education  was 
under  the  direction  of  William  Wirt,  between  whom  and  himself 
a  devoted,  life -long  friendship  was  cemented.  His  collegiate 
course  was  completed  at  Dickinson  College,  Penn.  At  the  early 
age  of  nineteen,  he  left  his  paternal  roof,  taking  with  him  ample 
means  to  purchase  and  improve  lands  in  Kentucky;  where  he 
laid  out  farms,  built  tanyards,  and  distilleries,  and  erected  houses. 
Like  many  other  young  men,  however,  of  warm  and  generous 
dispositions,  but  wanting  experience,  he  entered  without  restraint 
into  all  the  excesses  of  society,  as  it  then  existed,  and  became 
dissipated.  Having  suddenly  awakened  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
squandered  his  patrimony,  impaired  his  health,  and  disappointed 
his  friends,  he  formed  the  resolution  to  break  away  from  his 
wild  associates  and  thoroughly  reform  his  life.  This  resolve  he 
manfully  carried  out  and  never  after  fell  into  irregular  habits. 
Removing  from  Nelson  to  Logan  County  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  and  afterward  to  the  practice  of  law,  in  which  he  soon 
attained  distinction.  Although  beginning  life  anew  without  a 
dollar,  he  firmly  refused  the  proffered  aid  of  his  father,  and  in  a 
few  years,  by  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  through  prudent 
investments,  he  amassed  the  nucleus  of  a  large  fortune.*  Hav- 
ing served  two  terms  in  the  Kentucky  legislature,  he  filled 
successively  the  offices  of  presiding-judge  of  the  general  court, 
circuit-judge,  and  chief-justice  of  the  court  of  appeals.  His 
promotion  had  been  as  rapid  as  it  was  merited.  Henry  Clay 
said  of  him:  "his  good  understanding,  weight  of  character,  and 
conciliatory  manners  gave  him  very  fair  pretentions  to  the  office 
[of  governor].  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  whole  representation 
from  the  State  [Kentucky]  would  concur  in  ascribing  to  him 
every  qualification  for  the  office  in  question." 

Without  the  wide  experience  of  St.  Clair,  or  the  military 
training  of  Harrison,  his  previous  service  on  the  bench  and  in  the 
forum  gave  him  superior  advantages  over  either  of  his  predeces- 
sors in  discharging  the  civil  duties  upon  which  he  now  entered. 

*  Edwards'  "History  of  Illinois,"  241. 


244  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Gov.  Edwards  found  on  his  arrival  the  people  divided  into 
parties  and  cliques,  as  in  older  communities.  The  controversy- 
over  the  division  of  the  Territory  had  been  bitter,  and  left 
behind  it  the  stings  of  disappointment  and  defeat.  While  the 
majority  had  been  in  favor  of  separation  and  the  establishment 
of  a  new  government,  whose  proximity  might  enable  them 
personally  to  participate  in  its  administration,  a  very  consider- 
able minority  had  preferred  that  it  should  have  remained  at  a 
distance,  thinking  perhaps,  that  their  schemes  of  speculation  and 
trade  would  be  less  liable  to  provoke  interference.  Those  who 
had  been  successful  in  the  contest  thought  that  they  should  be 
preferred  by  his  excellency  in  the  distribution  of  his  favors, 
because  of  "the  calumnies,  indignities,  and  other  enormities  which 
had  been  heaped  upon  them  by  those  who  had  opposed  that 
measure."* 

The  white  population  of  the  Territory  at  this  time  was  esti- 
mated at  nine  thousand,  and  the  number  of  Indians,  who 
occupied  the  larger  portion,  was  supposed  to  be  about  eighteen 
thousand. 

On  June  16,  the  governor  and  judges  formed  themselves  into 
a  legislative  body  and  enacted  a  code  of  laws  for  the  government 
of  the  Territory.  Most  of  these  were  copies  of  those  heretofore 
existing,  with  which  the  people  were  already  tolerably  familiar. 

The  appointments  of  officers  already  made  by  the  secretary 
were  generally  concurred  in.-f- 

The  new  government  having  been  thus  successfully  inaugura- 
ted, the  governor  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  organization 
of  the  militia.  In  this  task  he  encountered  fresh  difficulties. 
Although  the  contest  over  the  appointment  of  civil  officers  had 
been  bitter,  that  for  military  honors  was  equally  acrimonious. 

*  Letter  in  Edwards'  "Illinois, "  28. 

+  The  list  as  amended  was  as  follows:  Benjamin  H.  Doyle,  attorney -general, 
having  resigned,  the  office  was  tendered  to  John  Jordan  Crittenden  of  Kentucky,  who 
declined,  and  Thos.  Leonidas  Crittenden  was  appointed.  Robert  Morrison,  adjutant- 
general,  vice  Wm.  Rector,  resigned.  For  Randolph  County:  Robert  Morrison, 
clerk  of  the  general  court ;. Benjamin  Stephenson,  sheriff;  Wm.  C.  Greenup,  clerk  of 
the  county-court.  For  St.  Clair  County:  Wm.  Arundel,  recorder;  John  Hay,  clerk 
of  the  court  of  common  pleas,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death  in  1845;  John 
Hays,  sheriff,  which  office  he  held  until  1818;  Enoch  Moore,  coroner;  John  Mess- 
inger,  surveyor. 


INDIAN   AFFAIRS.  245 

In  order  to  avoid  the  charge  of  affiliating  with  any  faction,  the 
governor  adopted  the  plan  of  permitting  each  company  to  elect 
its  own  officers,  and  the  latter  to  chose  those  for  the  regiment. 
Senator  Pope,  with  whom  he  advised,  severely  criticised  this 
course,  and  in  commenting  upon  one  of  his  appointees  thus 
recommended  said,  he  knew  him  to  be  a  scoundrel. 

The  machinery  of  the  territorial  government  had  been  scarcely 
set  in  motion  before  the  executive  was  required  to  give  earnest 
attention  to  his  ex-officio  duties  as  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs.  The  era  of  peace  and  prosperity  which  had  continued 
for  nearly  twenty  years  in  the  Territory  was  about  to  be  disturbed 
once  more  by  the  "rude  alarms"  of  war.  It  has  been  already 
pointed  out  that  the  cessions  of  such  large  portions  of  the  lands 
of  the  different  tribes,  between  1803  and  1809,  to  the  whites  had 
given  rise  to  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  native  proprietors, 
who  believed  that  their  rights  had  been  bartered  away  for  a  song. 
Sentiments  of  jealousy  and  enmity  were  aroused,  which  required 
but  little  fanning  to  be  kindled  into  a  blaze  of  war.  The  great 
Tecumseh,  with  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  took  the  lead  in 
attempting  to  excite  the  dissatisfied  tribes  to  revolt.  They  were 
untiring  in  their  efforts  to  sow  and  foster  the  seeds  of  discontent, 
alleging  that  the  Americans  would  soon  overrun  the  entire 
country,  and  the  red  men  be  driven  across  the  Mississippi. 
These  representations  were  urged  with  such  vehemence  that 
attacks  by  marauding  bands  upon  the  defenceless  settlements 
of  Illinois  and  Missouri  began  to  be  of  more  or  less  frequent 
occurrence,  resulting  in  the  loss  of  many  lives  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  considerable  property.  Demands  were  made  upon  the 
Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos  to  deliver  up  the  perpetrators  of 
these  outrages.  Frequent  interviews  and  councils  were  held 
between  the  governor  and  his  agents  on  the  one  hand  and  lead- 
ing chiefs  on  the  other,  to  see  if  some  satisfactory  arrangement 
could  not  be  effected  which  would  prevent  further  hostilities. 
The  chiefs,  though  friendly  in  their  demeanor,  very  emphatically 
contended  that  they  had  causes  of  grievance  against  the  whites 
no  less  serious  than  those  which  the  latter  urged  against  the 
Indians — in  a  word,  that  wrongs  had  been  committed  on  both 
sides. 

From  the  temper  of  the  savages  displayed  in  these  conferences, 


246  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  information  carefully  collected,  together  with  the  fact  of  the 
commission  of  further  depredations,  Gov.  Edwards  was  convinced 
that  the  larger  portion  of  the  Indians  in  Illinois  were  only 
waiting  for  a  more  thorough  organization  and  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  make  war  upon  the  white  settlements  of  the  Territory. 
A  careful  enumeration  of  the  warriors  of  the  different  tribes 
residing  in  Illinois  at  this  time,  made  under  the  direction  of  the 
governor,  showed  the  following  result: 

Pottawatomies  on  the  Illinois  River  -  350 
Pottawatomies  on  the  Little  Calumet,  Fox,  and 

Kankakee  rivers         -         -         -  180 

Pottawatomies  and  Ottawas  near  Chicago  -  -  300 
Kickapoos  and  mixed  near  Peoria  Lake  and  on 

the  Little  Mackinaw  River       -  330 

Sacs  and  Foxes  on  Rock  River  -  1400 
Winnebagos           -         -         -         -         -         --450 

Making  in  all  3010,  which  would  indicate  a  hostile  population  of 
about  15,000,  very  far  exceeding  that  of  the  whites.  It  will  be 
seen  that  no  Piankashaws  nor  the  remnants  of  the  Illinois,  both 
of  whom  were  friendly,  were  included  in  the  estimate. 

The  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  from  which  was  taken  one  of  the 
favorite  political  war-cries  of  Harrison's  presidential  campaign, 
was  fought  Nov.  6,  181 1.  Gen.  Harrison,  with  a  force  of  700 
strong,  was  attacked  with  unwonted  ferocity,  early  in  the  mor- 
ning, by  Tecumseh  with  a  superior  force.  After  an  obstinate 
and  bloody  contest,  the  enemy  was  repulsed  and  driven  off  the 
field;  not  however  without  inflicting  a  severe  loss  upon  the 
Americans,  37  of  whom  were  killed,  25  mortally  and  126  seri- 
ously wounded.     The  Indian  losses  were  still  greater. 

Illinois  was  not  without  its  representation  on  both  sides  of 
this  sanguinary  contest.  The  Pottawatomies  and  Winnebagos 
were  there,  and  also  the  Kickapoos,  the  latter  of  whom  were 
especially  distinguished  by  their  fierce  assaults  and  determined 
courage.  Capt.  Isaac  White  from  Gallatin  County,  who  com- 
manded a  company  of  militia,  was  among  the  slain.  Here  also 
fell  the  gallant  Col.  Joe  Daviess  at  the  head  of  his  command. 

The  defeat  of  Tecumseh  only  serving  to  intensify  the  spirit  of 
war  among  the  savages,  Gov.  Edwards,  without  delay,  proceeded 


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INDIAN   DISTURBANCES.  247 

to  make  such  preparations  as  his  means  permitted,  for  the 
defence  and  protection  of  his  Territory.  In  advance  of  the  action 
of  congress  providing  for  the  organization  and  equipment  o. 
volunteer  companies,  he  called  out  the  militia,  and  advanced 
large  sums  from  his  private  means  for  the  purchase  of  arms,  the 
building  of  stockade  forts,  and  the  establishment  of  a  line  of 
defensive  works  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Wabash  rivers.* 

In  181 1,  however,  congress  provided  by  law  for  ten  compa- 
nies of  mounted  rangers,  constituting  the  seventh  regiment,  to 
protect  the  frontiers  of  the  West,  the  command  of  which  was 
entrusted  to  Col.  Wm.  Russell  of  Kentucky.  Four  of  these 
companies  were  raised  in  Illinois,  and  were  placed  under  the 
commands  respectively,  of  Capts.  Samuel  Whiteside,  William  B. 
Whiteside,  James  B.  Moore,  and  Jacob  Short.  Five  indepen- 
dent cavalry  companies  were  also  organized  for  the  protection 
of  settlements  on  the  lower  Wabash,  of  which  Willis  Hargrave, 
William  McHenry,  Nathaniel  Journey,  Thomas  E.  Craig,  and 
William  Boon  were  respectively  commanders. 

If  there  were  wanting  any  evidence  to  vindicate  the  judgment 
of  the  governor  regarding  the  hostile  intentions  of  the  savages, 
and  the  necessity  for  making  vigorous  preparations  for  defence, 
it  was  soon  furnished  by  the  massacre  of  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Dearborn  at  Chicago,  August  15,  18 12.  The  story  of  this  un- 
provoked collision,  the  bloodiest  that  ever  occurred  between 
the  whites  and  Indians  in  Illinois,  is  as  follows: 

Chicago  was  a  designation  applied  indifferently  by  explorers 
to  rivers,  posts,  and  routes,  as  early  as  1675.  A  French  trad- 
ing-post, mission,  and  fort  existed  under  that  name  before 
1700,  but  their  precise  location  can  not  be  now  determined. 
By  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  the  Pottawatomies  ceded  six  miles 
square  of  territory  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  "where 
a  fort  formerly  stood."  This  is  the  first  official  connection  of 
the  name  with  a  definite  locality  of  which  we  have  any  record. 
It  was  a  favorite  trading-post  of  the  Indians,  and  in  1803-4  the 
United  States  built  a  fort  on  the  south  side,  and  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  which  was  called  after  a  general 
of  the  army  and  then  secretary- of- war,  Fort  Dearborn.  It 
consisted  of  two  block-houses,  with  a  parade-ground  and  sally- 

*  Edwards'  "  Illinois, "  68. 


248  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

port,  surrounded  by  a  stockade.  In  July,  18 12,  the  garrison 
was  composed  of  seventy -four  men  commanded  by  Capt. 
Nathan  Heald.  The  other  officers  were  Lieut.  Linai  T.  Helm, 
Ensign  George  Ronan,  and  Surgeon  Isaac  V.  Van  Voorhis; 
John  Kinzie  being  the  principal  trader. 

During  the  preceding  April,  much  alarm  had  been  excited  by 
a  hostile  demonstration  against  some  settlers  at  a  farm  known 
as  "Lee's  place,"  about  four  miles  from  the  fort  up  the  south- 
branch  of  the  river,  which  had  resulted  in  the  killing  of  Liberty 
White,  the  tenant,  and  a  French  employe. 

Perceiving  the  growing  animosity  of  the  savages,  and  fearing 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  hold  the  fort  in  the  event  of  an 
attack,  Gen.  William  Hull,  in  command  at  Detroit,  directed  its 
evacuation,  and,  as  is  generally  stated,  the  distribution  of  the 
property  among  the  Indians  as  a  peace-offering.  Capt.  Heald, 
however,  in  his  report  on  this  point  says,  "leaving  it  to  my  dis- 
cretion to  dispose  of  the  public  property  as  I  thought  proper." 
These  orders  were  brought  to  the  fort  Aug.  9,*  by  Winnemeg,  a 
friendly  Pottawatomie  chief,  who  was  well  informed  in  regard  to 
the  hostile  plans  of  the  Indians,  and  it  is  said  strongly  urged, 
that  as  the  fort  was  well  provisioned  and  in  good  condition  to 
stand  a  siege,  that  the  order  be  disregarded;  and  further  that  if 
the  fort  were  evacuated,  that  it  be  done  at  once,  leaving  every- 
thing in  statu  quo,  before  the  Indians  could  concentrate  and 
prepare  for  an  attack.  But  Capt.  Heald,  who  it  would  now 
seem,  was  singularly  blind  to  his  perilous  situation,  decided  to 
notify  the  neighboring  tribes  of  the  order  to  abandon  the  fort, 
and  of  his  intention  to  divide  the  goods  among  them.  This 
action  of  the  commandant,  it  is  asserted,  was  strongly  opposed 
by  the  other  officers,  and  by  John  Kinzie,  who  pointed  out  the 
danger  of  such  a  proceeding.  The  Indians  upon  being  notified 
of  the  order  became  insolent  and  unruly,  entering  the  fort  in 
defiance  of  the  sentinels.  They  had  been  advised  by  Tecumseh 
of  the  fall  of  Mackinac,  July  17,  of  the  proposed  attack  upon 
Detroit,  and  had  been  urged  by  that  chief  with  whom  they  had 
already  acted,  and  in  whose  judgment  they  had  great  confidence, 
to  take  up  arms  against  the  Americans,  and  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Dearborn  afforded  them  the  opportunity. 

*  Capt.  Heald's  "  Report " — Mrs.  Kinzie  says  Aug.  7. 


MASSACRE  AT  CHICAGO.  249 

Aug.  12,  the  Indians  having  assembled  in  council,  as  invited 
by  the  commander  of  the  Fort,  it  was  agreed  that  in  consid- 
eration of  the  delivery  to  them  of  the  goods  in  the  fort,  the 
Indians  should  furnish  the  garrison  an  escort  and  safe  passage 
to  Fort  Wayne.  In  this  conference,  entirely  distrusting  the 
sincerity  and  good  faith  of  the  Indians,  it  is  claimed  that  the 
other  officers  refused  to  participate;  Aug.  13,  Capt.  William 
Wells,  who  was  an  uncle  of  Mrs.  Heald,  arrived  from  Fort 
Wayne  with  thirty  friendly  Miamis,  to  aid  in  escorting  the 
garrison  to  that  place. 

The  next  day  (14th),  when  the  property,  consisting  mostly  of 
broadcloth,  calico,  and  paints,  was  distributed,  the  Indians  did 
not  fail  to  notice  that  a  large  portion  of  the  supplies  promised, 
according  to  their  understanding,  had  been  withheld.  Their 
suspicion  of  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the  whites  having  been 
thus  aroused,  was  confirmed,  and  their  indignant  resentment 
inflamed  to  the  highest  pitch  when  while  prowling  around  the 
fort  during  the  following  night  they  saw  the  muskets  which  they 
so  much  coveted  broken  and  destroyed,  and  the  casks  of  spirits 
which  they  still  more  desired,  rolled  to  the  river  bank,  the  heads 
knocked  in,  and  the  liquor  poured  into  the  stream.  Capt.. 
Heald  on  this  point  remarks:  "the  surplus  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, I  thought  proper  to  destroy,  fearing  they  would  make  bad 
use  of  it,  if  put  in  their  possession.  I  also  destroyed  all  liquor 
on  hand,  soon  after  they  began  to  collect." 

The  violation  of  what  is  supposed  was  the  original  agreement, 
had  been  insisted  upon,  it  is  said,  by  the  other  officers,  and  will- 
ingly assented  to  by  Capt.  Heald,  who  saw  when  too  late,  how 
dangerous  it  would  prove  to  carry  it  out  in  its  fullest  extent. 
The  wrath  of  the  Indians  on  being  thus  deprived  of  the  coveted 
stores  was  deeply  felt  and  vehemently  expressed;  and  Black 
Hawk  who  passed  by  the  fort  soon  after,  in  speaking  of  the 
transaction  said:  "that  if  they  [the  whites]  had  fulfilled  their 
word  to  the  Indians,  I  think  they  would  have  gone  safe." 

While  the  destruction  of  ammunition,  guns,  and  liquor  was 
undoubtedly  an  aggravating  circumstance,  which  was  made  use 
of  by  the  Indians  as  a  justification  of  their  own  bad  faith,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  the  attack  which  followed  would  have 
been  made  in  any  event.     It  had  been  fully  determined  upon. 


2$0  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Black  Partridge,  a  Pottawatomie  chief  who  had  been  on  terms 
of  friendship  with  the  whites,  appeared  before  Capt.  Heald  and 
informed  him  plainly  "that  his  young  men  intended  to  imbrue 
their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  whites";  that  he  was  no  longer 
able  to  restrain  them,  and  surrendering  a  medal  he  had  worn  in 
token  of  amity,  closed  by  saying:  "I  will  not  wear  a  token  of 
peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  enemy." 

In  the  meantime  the  Indians  were  "rioting  upon  the  provi- 
sions," and  becoming  so  aggressive  in  their  bearing  that  it  was 
resolved  to  march  out  the  next  day.  The  fatal  15  th  arrived. 
To  each  soldier  was  distributed  twenty-five  rounds  of  reserved 
ammunition.  The  baggage  and  ambulance  wagons  were  laden, 
and  the  garrison  slowly  wended  its  way  outside  the  protecting 
walls  of  the  fort — the  Indian  escort  of  five  hundred  following  in 
the  rear.  What  next  occurred  in  this  disastrous  movement  is 
narrated  by  Capt.  Heald  in  his  report,  as  follows:  "The  situation 
of  the  country  rendered  it  necessary  for  us  to  take  the  beach, 
with  the  lake  on  our  left,  and  a  high  sand-bank  on  our  right,  at 
about  three  hundred  yards  distance.  We  had  proceeded  about 
a  mile  and  a-half  when  it  was  discovered  [by  Capt.  Wells]  that 
the  Indians  were  prepared  to  attack  us  from  behind  the  bank. 
I  immediately  marched  up  with  the  company,  to  the  top  of  the 
bank,  when  the  action  commenced:  after  firing  one  round,  we 
charged,  and  the  Indians  gave  way  in  front  and  joined  those  on 
our  flanks.  In  about  fifteen  minutes  they  got  possession  of  all 
our  horses,  provisions,  and  baggage  of  every  description;  and 
finding  the  Miamis  did  not  assist  us,  I  drew  off  the  few  men  I 
had  left,  and  took  possession  of  a  small  elevation  in  the  open 
prairie  out  of  shot  of  the  bank  or  any  other  cover.  The  Indians 
did  not  follow  me  but  assembled  in  a  body  on  the  top  of  the 
bank,  and  after  some  consultation  among  themselves,  made 
signs  for  me  to  approach  them.  I  advanced  toward  them  alone, 
and  was  met  by  one  of  the  Pottawatomie  chiefs,  called  Black 
Bird,  with  an  interpreter.  After  shaking  hands  he  requested  me 
to  surrender,  promising  to  spare  the  lives  of  all  the  prisoners. 
On  a  few  moments  consideration  I  concluded  it  would  be  most 
prudent  to  comply  with  his  request,  although  I  did  not  put  en- 
tire confidence  in  his  promise."  The  troops  had  made  a  brave 
defence,  but  what  could   so  small  a  force  do  against  such  over- 


THE   WAR   OF    l8l2.  2$  I 

whelming  numbers?  It  was  evident  with  over  half  their  number 
dead  upon  the  field,  or  wounded,  further  resistance  would  be 
hopeless.  Twenty  -  six  regulars  and  twelve  militia,  with  two 
women  and  twelve  children  were  killed.  Among  the  slain  were 
Capt.  Wells,  Dr.  Van  Voorhis,  and  Ensign  Geo.  Ronan.  Capt. 
Wells,*  when  quite  young,  had  been  captured  in  Kentucky  by 
the  Miamis  and  adopted  into  their  tribe.  He  had  lived  with 
them,  taking  an  Indian  woman  for  his  wife,  until  manhood, 
when  he  decided  to  return  to  his  friends  and  relatives,  and 
adopt  the  customs  of  civilized  life.  He  was  familiar  with  all 
the  wiles,  strategems,  as  well  as  the  vindictiveness  of  the  Indian 
character,  and  when  the  conflict  began  he  said  to  his  niece,  by 
whose  side  he  was  standing,  "We  have  not  the  slightest  chance 
for  life;  we  must  part  to  meet  no  more  in  this  world.  God 
bless  you."  With  these  words,  he  dashed  forward  into  the 
thickest  of  the  fight.  He  refused  to  be  taken  prisoner,  know- 
ing what  his  fate  would  be,  when  a  young  redskin  cut  him  down 
with  his  tomahawk,  jumped  upon  his  body,  cut  out  his  heart; 
and  ate  a  portion  with  savage  delight."!* 

The  prisoners  taken  were  Capt.  Heald  and  wife,  both  wounded, 
Lieut.  Helm,  also  wounded,  and  wife,  with  twenty  -  five  non- 
commissioned officers  and  privates,  and  eleven  women  and 
children.  The  loss  of  the  Indians  was  fifteen  killed.  Mr.  Kinzie's 
family  had  been  entrusted  to  the  care  of  some  friendly  Indians, 
and  were  not  with  the  retiring  garrison.  The  Indians  engaged 
in  this  outrage  were  principally  Pottawatomies,  with  a  few 
Chippwas,  Ottawas,  Winnebagos,  and  Kickapoos.  Fort  Dear- 
born was  plundered  and  burned  on  the  next  morning.^ 

*  Capt.  Wells,  a  brother  of  Gen.  Samuel  Wells  of  Kentucky,  was  twice  married 
to  Indian  women,  one  of  whom  was  a  daughter  of  Little  Turtle — his  adopted  father. 
When  the  captain  decided  to  sever  his  connection  with  the  Indians,  he  said  to 
Little  Turtle,  "  Father,  we  have  been  long  friends.  I  now  leave  you  to  go  to  my 
own  people.  We  will  be  friends  until  the  sun  reaches  its  midday  height.  From 
that  time  we  will  be  enemies;  and  if  you  want  to  kill  me  then,  you  may;  and  if 
I  want  to  kill  you,  I  may."  He  was  afterward  joined  by  his  wife  and  children, 
who  were  well  educated,  and  after  the  peace  of  Greenville,  by  Little  Turtle,  who 
resided  with  him. — "Fort  Dearborn,"  by  Hon.  John  Wentworth. 

t  Lossing's  "Field-Book  of  1812." 

£  Without  exception,  historians  have  relied  for  their  facts  in  regard  to  the  Massacre 
at  Chicago,  which  ought  to  be  more  properly  described  as  the  massacre  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  upon  the  account  given  of  the  event  by  Mrs.  Juliette  A.  Kinzie,  wife  of 


252  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain  by  congress  was 
made  June  19,  1812.  The  Pottawatomies,  with  portions  of  other 
tribes  in  Illinois,  openly  sided  with  the  British.  Their  success 
at  Chicago  had  increased  their  self-confidence  and  deepened 
their  hostility.  Gov.  Edwards  decided  to  anticipate  further 
attacks,  by  himself  assuming  the  offensive.  Although  his 
experience  as  a  military  commander  had  been  limited  to  a  brief 
service  as  major  in  a  Kentucky  militia  regiment,  he  determined 
to  take  the  field  in  person. 

Constructing  a  fort  at  Camp  Russell,  near  Edwardsville,  where 
he  made  his  head-quarters,  he  collected  a  force  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  mounted  volunteers;  and  was  soon  afterward  joined  by 
Col.  William  Russell  with  portions  of  two  companies  of  rangers, 
numbering  one  hundred  officers  and  men.  Having  sent  out 
small  detachments  which  had  successfully  attacked  and  driven 
off  several  bands  of  the  enemy  from  the  immediate  frontiers,  on 
Oct.  18,  he  began  his  march  to  Peoria.  He  expected  to  cooperate 
with  Gen.  Hopkins,  who,  with  a  force  of  two  thousand  troops 
from  Kentucky,  had  been  ordered  to  disperse  the  Indians  and 
break  up  their  villages  on  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers. 

The  governor  organized  his  force  into  two  regiments,  one  of 
which  was  commanded  by  Col.  Charles  Rector,  and  the  other 
by  Col.  Benjamin  Stephenson;  Col.  Wm.  Russell  was  placed 
second  in  command.  In  addition  to  the  two  companies  of 
rangers,  Capt.  Samuel  Judy  had  an  independent  company  of 
spies.  The  governor's  staff  consisted  of  Secretary  Nathaniel 
Pope,  Nelson  Rector,  and  Robert  K.  McLaughlin. 

John  H.  Kinzie,  who  was  the  son  of  John  Kinzie.  This  embodies  the  facts  as  under- 
stood by  them,  and  as  reported  by  Mrs.  Margaret  Helm,  a  step-daughter  of  John  Kinzie. 
Naturally  the  accounts  of  any  military  movement  which  resulted  disastrously,  is 
colored  against  its  commander,  by  those  who  have  suffered  from  it,  either  the  loss  of 
property  or  friends.  Of  course  it  was  for  the  pecuniary  interest  of  Mr.  Kinzie  as  sub- 
Indian  agent,  to  have  the  troops  remain  and  hold  the  fort,  and  he  would  be  inclined 
to  criticise  the  actions  of  the  officer  in  command,  which  were  opposed  to  his  own 
views.  While  this  is  so,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  statements  in  Mrs.  Kinzie's 
narrative  bear  upon  their  face  the  appearance  of  truth  and  fairness.  It  was  not  pub- 
lished however  until  twelve  years  after  the  death  of  Capt.  Heald,  who  never  had  the 
opportunity  of  replying  to  its  strictures. 

For  interesting  information  concerning  Fort  Dearborn,  the  Massacre,  and  fate  of 
the  prisoners,  consult  "  Fort  Dearborn, "  an  address  by  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  No. 
16,  Fergus'  Historical  Series;  also,  "The  Massacre  of  Chicago,"  by  Mrs.  John  H. 
Kinzie,  No.  30,   Fergus'  Hist.   Series. 


CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   THE   INDIANS.  253 

After  a  march  of  five  days,  having  burnt  two  Kickapoo  vil- 
lages en  route,  the  army  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy  at  the  head 
of  Peoria  Lake.  Here  an  Indian  and  his  squaw,  approaching 
for  an  interview,  were  mercilessly  shot  down  by  the  spies,  the 
leader  exclaiming  that  they  had  not  left  home  to  take  prisoners. 

It  is  a  deplorable  fact  in  connection  with  this  and  other 
campaigns  against  the  Indians,  that  the  innocent  were  made  to 
suffer  with  the  guilty.  The  hostile  bands  lived  in  the  same 
villages  with  those  who  were  really  friendly  toward  the  whites, 
and  it  was  impossible  to  discriminate  between  friends  and  foes. 
The  village,  which  was  the  object  of  this  attack,  was  that  of 
Black  Partridge  and  Gomo,  who  had  done  all  in  their  power  to 
prevent  their  warriors  from  arraying  themselves  against  the 
United  States,  and  knowing  their  own  friendly  feelings,  had 
evidently  no  apprehension  of  being  thus  attacked.  When  the 
town  was  first  seen  the  Indians  were  preparing  breakfast,  and 
the  "children  playing  on  the  green."  Upon  seeing  an  armed 
force  approach,  they  proceeded  to  get  away  hurriedly,  on  foot 
and  on  horseback,  as  best  they  could,  but,  as  was  supposed,  to 
form  in  order  of  battle.  But  there  was  really  no  resistance  to 
the  assault,  the  whites  shooting  down  all  of  the  fleeing  inhabi- 
tants that  came  within  their  range.  Thirty  of  the  redskins  were 
reported  killed  and  several  wounded.  Their  town  with  its 
valuable  stores,  was  burned.  Four  prisoners,  and  eighty  head 
of  horses  were  captured.  The  loss  of  the  assailants  was  one 
man  wounded.  Among  the  rangers  in  this  expedition  were 
John  Reynolds  and  Thomas  Carlin,  both  afterward  governors 
of  the  State.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  for  the  sake  of  humanity, 
that  the  blood-curdling  report  of  the  governor,  with  his  cen- 
tre, and  right  and  left  wings,  charging  upon  an  unprepared 
and  defenceless  Indian  village,  with  the  terrible  array  of  "killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,"  which  he  is  careful  to  state,  however, 
was,  according  to  the  reports  of  the  Indians,  altogether  too- 
highly  colored. 

Not  meeting  with,  or  hearing  from  Gen.  Hopkins,  who  had 
decided  to  abandon  the  expedition  .after  reaching  the  head- 
waters of  the  Vermilion,  Gov.  Edwards  returned  to  Fort  Rus- 
sell, after  an  absence  of  thirteen  days. 

In  the  meantime,  Capt.  Thomas  E.  Craig  had  been  dispatched 


254  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

with  a  company  and  two  boats  to  capture  the  ancient  French 
village  of  Peoria.  It  had  been  represented  to  the  governor  as 
being  a  seditious  place,  whose  inhabitants  were  in  sympathy 
with  the  Indians.  They  were  traders,  hunters,  and  voyageurs, 
as  were  the  dwellers  in  other  French  villages,  and  were  estima- 
ted to  number  over  two  hundred. 

The  captain  was  an  energetic,  uncouth  frontiersman,  whose 
characteristics  were  those  of  a  fighter  rather  than  a  diplomat. 
His  hatred  of  the  red  men  obscured  every  other  feeling.  Arriving 
at  the  town,  he  and  his  men  visited  the  houses  in  search  of 
evidence  to  establish  the  disloyalty  of  the  owners.  Especially 
was  he  suspicious  of  and  prejudiced  against,  the  well-known 
Indian  agent,  Thomas  Forsyth,  who  was  not  only  thoroughly 
reliable,  but  whose  relations  with  the  government  were  of  a 
confidential  nature.  Early  on  the  morning  of  November  8,  his 
boat  having  been  blown  ashore  in  a  storm,  he  heard  several 
shots,  as  many  as  ten,  he  says  in  his  report,  which  in  fact  had 
been  fired  by  some  hunters  at  game.  Craig,  however,  supposing 
that  they  came  from  an  attacking  party,  shelled  the  woods,  and 
prepared  for  battle;  but  on  advancing  no  enemy  was  found. 
Reporting  the  incident  to  Forsyth  and  others  who  made  light  of 
it,  he  became  enraged,  and  charged  them  all  with  being  in  league 
with  the  Indians.  He  therefore  made  prisoners  of  every  one 
he  could  find  in  the  town,  men,  women,  and  children,  seventy- 
five  in  all,  including  Forsyth,  whose  commission  was  shown 
Craig,  but  which  he  pronounced  a  forgery — and  "burnt  down 
about  half  the  town." 

With  his  prisoners,  including  men,  women,  and  children,  he 
started  down  the  river,  but  finally  released  them,  landing  them 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  just  below  Alton,  thence  to 
make  their  way  home  in  the  middle  of  winter  as  best  they 
could.  The  brutality  and  ignorance  of  this  officer  may  be 
inferred  from  his  report  to  the  governor,  which  he  concludes  as 
follows:  "  Forsyth  appeared  sulky  and  obstinate.  He  claimed 
property,  after  refusing  to  receive  it,  at  Peoria.  He  got  all  his 
property,  and  I  am  afraid  more.  He  and  the  rest  of  the  damned 
rascals  may  think  themselves  well  off  that  they  were  not 
scalped."  * 

*  "  Edwards  Papers, "  p.  86. 


EXPEDITIONS   AGAINST   THE   INDIANS.  255. 

The  year  18 12  closed  with  but  few  victories  over  the  Indians. 
The  savages  continued  their  midnight  raids  and  murderous 
assaults  against  the  white  settlements  without  successful  opposi- 
tion. Block-house  stations  and  stockades  were  repaired  and 
strengthened,  yet  many  of  the  inhabitants,  venturing  to  expose 
themselves,  were  either  taken  prisoners  or  killed  —  the  latter 
numbering  sixteen  in  February  and  March,  18 13. 

In  18 1 3,  another  expedition  was  sent  against  the  Pottawato- 
mies  and  Kickapoos  on  the  Illinois  River.  The  forces  were 
commanded  by  Gen.  Benjamin  Howard,  formerly  governor  of 
Missouri.  The  regiment  of  Illinois  troops  was  commanded  by 
Col.  Benjamin  Stephenson.  Leaving  Camp  Russell  in  August, 
they  were  joined  by  a  force  from  Missouri  at  Fort  Mason  on 
the  Mississippi  below  Ouincy.  Arriving  at  Gomo's  village,  the 
present  site  of  Chillicothe,  no  enemy  was  to  be  found.  Return- 
ing to  Peoria,  Fort  Clark  was  built,  and  several  fruitless  attempts 
were  made  from  there  to  find  the  foe.  The  expedition  returned 
to  Camp  Russell,  October  23,  without  the  accomplishment  of 
any  important  results. 

In  18 14,  no  very  severe  punishment  having  been  inflicted  upon 
the  savages,  they  continued  their  attacks  upon  exposed  settle- 
ments with  renewed  ferocity.  Marauding  bands  hung  around 
the  outskirts  of  remote  settlements,  and  the  unerring  bullets  of 
the  redskins  laid  low  many  a  head,  whose  scalp  hung,  as  a 
prized  trophy,  from  the  belts  of  the  savage  assassins.  The 
perpetrators  of  these  depredations  escaped  the  vengeance  of 
the  white  settlers  by  precipitate  flight,  when  attacked  even 
by  an  inferior  force. 

The  first  organized  expedition  sent  out  in  18 14,  was  under 
Lieut.  John  Campbell,  to  strengthen  Prairie  du  Chien.  Two 
companies  of  this  small  army  were  commanded  by  Captain 
Stephen  Rector,  and  Lieut.  (John  ?)  Riggs.  After  reaching  Rock 
Island,  and  while  passing  up  the  river  in  boats,  a  severe  engage- 
ment took  place,  the  Indians  being  commanded  by  the  renowned 
Black  Hawk.  The  barge  of  Lieut.  Campbell  having  been  blown 
ashore  by  a  gale,  he  was  placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  foe.  Seeing 
his  perilous  situation,  Rector  and  Riggs,  who  had  passed  in 
safety,  endeavored  to  return  to  his  assistance  The  boat  of 
Riggs  was  stranded  on  the  rocks;  but  Rector  having  anchored 


256  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

opened  an  effective  fire  upon  the  enemy.  The  barge  of  Lieut. 
Campbell,  who  was  badly  wounded,  caught  fire,  when  the  heroic 
Rector,  having  raised  his  anchor,  in  full  view  of  the  infuriated 
savages,  and  within  easy  range  of  their  deadly  rifles,  floated 
down  to  the  burning  barge  and  succeeded  in  transferring  to  his 
own  boat  not  only  the  survivors,  but  also  the  killed  and  wounded. 
The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  nine  killed  and  sixteen  wounded. 
The  expedition  then  returned  to  St.  Louis — Lieut.  Riggs,  whose 
stranded  boat  was  so  exposed  as  to  afford  little  hope  of  his 
safety,  escaping  also  under  cover  of  night.* 

Another  expedition  was  sent  up  the  Mississippi  this  year, 
commanded  by  Maj.  Zachary  Taylor,  afterward  president,  and 
with  it  were  Capts.  Nelson  Rector,  and  Samuel  Whiteside, 
commanding  the  Illinoisians.  At  Rock  Island,  it  was  discovered 
that  the  British  had  a  detachment  there  with  artillery,  and  that 
the  force  of  Indians  was  very  large.  Some  severe  fighting 
occurred.  An  assault  ordered  by  Taylor  upon  the  upper  island 
was  successful,  many  of  the  enemy  being  killed.  Another  assault 
by  Capt.  Rector  upon  the  lower  island,  failed  in  consequence  of 
the  Indians  having  been  largely  reenforced.  In  his  efforts  to 
reach  his  boat,  which  had  grounded,  a  desperate  hand-to-hand 
encounter  took  place;  but  Capt.  Whiteside  came  to  his  support 
and  saved  the  day.  Major  Taylor,  finding  his  force  insufficient 
to  contend  successfully  with  the  enemy,  withdrew  down  the 
river,  and,  on  the  present  site  of  Warsaw,  constructed  Fort 
Edwards.  From  this  point  also,  the  whites  were  compelled  to 
retreat,  and  the  Illinois  rangers  and  volunteers  returning  home, 
were  discharged  from  service,  October  18.  The  result  of  this 
year's  operations  were  as  unsatisfactory  and  unfavorable  as  had 
been  those  of  the  two  preceding.  The  Indians  remained  in 
complete  and  defiant  possession  of  the  upper  Illinois  country. 
It  may  be  said  to  have  been  exceedingly  fortunate  for  the  people 
of  the  Territory  of  Illinois  that  the  issues  of  the  war  of  18 12 
were  not  dependent  upon  the  success  which  crowned  their  efforts 
to  subdue  the  foe  which  was  at  their  own  doors. 

Although  the  treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  was  signed  at  Ghent,  Dec.  24,  18 14,  no  formal 
treaty  with  the  Indians  was  concluded  until  the  following  year, 

*  Reynolds',  "My  Own  Times,"  2d  Ed.,  100. 


EXPEDITIONS   AGAINST   THE   INDIANS.  257 

when  articles  between  the  United  States  and  the  hostile 
tribes  were  signed  at  a  point  on  the  Mississippi  River,  below 
Alton  in  July,  181 5,  the  American  commissioners  being  Govs. 
William  Clark  of  Missouri  and  Edwards  of  Illinois,  and  Auguste 
Chouteau.  Most  of  the  Northwestern  tribes,  including  the 
Pottawatomies,  were  represented.* 

In  these  frontier  wars  of  18 12-14,  the  names  of  William  and 
Samuel  Whiteside,  James  B.  Moore,  Jacob  Short,  John  More- 
dock,  William  and  Nathan  Boon,  William,  Nelson,  and  Stephen 
Rector,  Nathaniel  Journey,  Willis  Hargrave,  Jacob  and  Samuel 
Judy,  Benj.  Stephenson,  and  Wm.  McHenry  were  conspicuous 
as  commanders  of  either  companies  or  regiments.  The  records 
of  those  times  show  that  they  bore  themselves  with  most  dis- 
tinguished bravery  and  heroism.  They  had  themselves  at  the 
hands  of  the  hostile  redskins  suffered  the  loss  of  property  and 
friends.  In  addition  to  the  impulses  of  patriotism,  therefore, 
they  were  influenced  by  the  recollection  of  personal  injuries; 
and  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that  in  no  published  report  of 
the  governor  is  any  mention  made  of  their  services  or  even  of 
their  names. "f* 

*  "American  State  Papers." 

t  The  following  were  among  the  casualities  during  the  war  not  mentioned  in  the 
text:  1812 — Andrew  Moore  and  son,  on  Big  Muddy;  Barbara  at  Jordan's  Fort; 
T8i3 — Two  families  on  Cash  River — several  killed  and  wounded;  Francois  Young 
at  Hill's  Ferry;  Joseph  Boltenhouse,  near  Albion;  Hutson,  wife,  and  four  children, 
on  the  Wabash;  the  Lively  family  (seven)  in  Washington  Co.;  1814 — Mrs.  Reason 
Reagan  and  six  children  on  Wood  River,  Madison  Co. ;  Henry  Cox  and  son,  on 
Shoal  Creek ;  Mrs.  Jesse  (Jane  Bradsby)  Bayles  and  Miss  Bradsby,  on  Sugar  Creek. 
—Reynolds',  "My  Own  Times." 

Authorities:  Capt.  Nathan  Heald's  official  report,  from  "Niles'  National  Register"; 
"  Wau-Bun,"  by  Mrs.  J.  H.  Kinzie;  "Fort  Dearborn,"  by  Hon.  John  Wentworth; 
Edwards'  "History  of  Illinois";  Reynolds'" My  Own  Times"  and  "Pioneer  History 
of  Illinois." 


17 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

As  a  Territory  of  the  Second  Grade— First  General  As- 
semblies—Territorial Laws  — Officers  and  Members 
of  the  Territorial  Legislatures. 

BY  the  Act  of  congress  dividing  the  territory  of  Indiana,  it 
was  provided  that  so  much  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  as 
related  to  the  organization  of  a  general  assembly  therein, 
should  be  and  remain  in  full  force  and  effect  in  the  Illinois 
Territory,  whenever  satisfactory  evidence  should  be  adduced  that 
such  was  the  wish  of  a  majority  of  the  freeholders,  notwithstand- 
ing there  mieht  not  be  five  thousand  free  white  male  inhabitants 
therein  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upward,  as  required 
in  the  ordinance. 

The  people  of  the  Territory  began  early  in  the  year  18 12  to 
agitate  the  question  of  the  election  of  their  own  law-makers; 
and  having  petitioned  the  governor  to  that  effect,  he,  on  March 
14,  ordered  an  election  to  be  held  in  April  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  the  sense  of  the  freeholders  on  that  subject.  The  vote 
was  nearly  unanimous  for  the  proposed  change. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  but  few  of  the  settlers  had  as  yet 
acquired  any  legal  title  to  the  lands  occupied  by  them,  there 
were  not  more  than  three  hundred  voters  in  the  Territory  pos- 
sessing the  required  qualification  of  freeholders,  as  prescribed 
by  the  ordinance. 

These  facts  being  reported  to  congress,  that  body  by  the  act 
of  May  21,  not  only  raised  the  territory  to  the  second  grade, 
but  also  extended  the  right  of  suffrage  to  all  white  male  inhabi- 
tants of  twenty-one  years  of  age,  who  paid  taxes,  and  had 
resided  one  year  in  the  Territory. 

In  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  governor  issued 
his  proclamation  ordering  an  election  to  be  held  in  each  county 
of  the  Territory — the  counties  of  Madison,  Gallatin,  and  Johnson 
having  been  added  to  those  of  St.  Clair  and  Randolph — on  Oct. 
8,  9,  and  10,  18 12,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  five  members  of 
the  council,  and  seven  representatives  to  the  general  assembly. 

258 


FIRST   TERRITORIAL   LEGISLATURE.  259 

This  first  general  election  in  the  Illinois  Territory,  held  during 
the  existence  of  a  war,  in  which  the  people  felt  a  greater 
interest,  was  quietly  conducted  and  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the 
following  persons:  for  members  of  the  council:  Pierre  Menard, 
merchant,  from  Randolph  County;  William  Biggs,  farmer,  from 
St.  Clair;  Samuel  Judy,  farmer,  from  Madison;  Thomas  Fergu- 
son, from  Johnson;  and  Benjamin  Talbot,  from  Gallatin.  For 
members  of  the  house  of  representatives:  George  Fisher,  physi- 
cian, from  Randolph  County;  Joshua  Oglesby,  a  Methodist 
minister,  and  Jacob  Short,  farmer,  from  St.  Clair;  Wm.  Jones,  a 
Baptist  minister,  from  Madison;  Col.  Philip  Trammel,  ranger, 
and  Alexander  Wilson,  tavern-keeper,  from  Gallatin;  and  John 
Grammar,  farmer,  from  Johnson.  It  will  be  noted  that  none  of 
them  were  lawyers;  all,  however,  had  been  enrolled  as  their 
country's  defenders.  The  general  assembly  met  at  Kaskaskia, 
November  25,  and  organized  by  the  choice  of  Pierre  Menard, 
president  of  the  council,  and  John  Thomas,  secretary.  George 
Fisher  was  elected  speaker-of-the-house,  and  Wm.  C.  Greenup, 
clerk.  One  doorkeeper  was  sufficient  for  both  bodies;  and  all 
the  members,  it  is  said,  were  entertained  at  one  tavern. 

The  message  of  the  governor  was  principally  devoted  to  a 
discussion  of  the  war,  and  proposed  changes  in  the  militia  and 
revenue  laws.  An  omnibus  bill  was  passed  December  13,. 
reenacting  all  the  laws  passed  by  the  Indiana  legislature,  and 
by  the  governor  and  judges  of  Illinois  Territory,  which  were 
then  in  force. 

The  people  soon  began  to  perceive  that  they  could  not  hope 
to  enjoy  an  increase  of  political  power  without  having  to  submit 
to  a  corresponding  increase  in  public  expenses.  The  revenue 
for  the  support  of  the  government  was  raised  by  taxing  lands  at 
the  rate  of  seventy-five  cents  on  the  one  hundred  acres.  County- 
revenue  was  raised  by  a  tax  on  personal  property,  and  by 
licenses — merchants  being  required  to  pay  a  fee  of  from  ten  to 
fifteen  dollars  for  the  privilege  of  carrying  on  business.  Owners 
of  horses  were  required  to  pay  fifty  cents  per  head,  and  each 
head  of  cattle  was  taxed  ten  cents.  The  legislature  continued 
in  session  thirty-two  days. 

At  this  same  election  Shadrach  Bond  was  selected  as  the  first 
delegate  to  congress  from  the  new  territory  of  Illinois.     This 


260  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

was  considered  then,  as  now,  a  desirable  position ;  but  not  on 
account  of  the  salary  attached — which  was  but  eight  dollars  per 
day  and  mileage,  the  annual  session  averaging  about  140 
days — nor  because  Washington  was  within  easy  reach,  or  an 
attractive  place  of  residence.  The  mode  of  travel  was  on  horse- 
back and  by  stage-coaches,  and  it  required  thirty-five  days  to 
make  the  trip  from  Kaskaskia  to  the  capital.  Washington  then 
contained  only  a  few  houses,  and  these  so  far  separated  as  to 
entitle  the  incipient  city,  to  the  sobriquet  of  "the  city  of  magnif- 
icent distances,"  which  it  has  maintained  to  this  day. 

The  office  seemed  to  be  prized  rather  for  the  opportunity  it 
afforded  to  secure  what  were  then  regarded  as  higher  posts  of 
honor,  in  other  words  as  a  stepping-stone  to  other  positions  of 
influence,  emolument,  and  power.  Gen.  St.  Clair  and  Capt.  Wm. 
H.  Harrison  were  transferred  from  congress  to  territorial 
governorships,  and  later,  Jesse  B.  Thomas  and  Nathaniel  Pope 
were  made  United -States  circuit-judges;  and  Capt.  Shadrach 
Bond  and  Benjamin  Stephenson  were  nominated  to  receiver- 
ships in  the  land-office — all  of  them  securing  their  new  appoint- 
ments before  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  service  in  congress. 

The  relationship  of  the  territories  to  the  general  government 
clothed  the  office  with  unusual  importance  at  this  time.  Troops 
to  aid  in  the  defence  of  the  settlements  were  to  be  raised, 
■organized,  equipped,  and  paid.  Questions  relating  to  land- 
titles  were  yet  unadjusted,  and  required  attention.  In  regard  to 
all  these  matters,  Capt.  Bond  rendered  laborious  and  able 
service.  Especially  was  he  entitled  to  great  credit  for  securing 
the  passage  of  the  first  preemption  law  of  the  Territory,  which 
was  a  very  popular  measure,  effecting  most  desirable  results. 

The  second  territorial  general  assembly  convened  at  Kaskas- 
kia, Nov.  14,  1 8 14.  The  council  having  been  elected  for  four 
years  was  unchanged.  Of  the  lower  house,  however,  but  one 
member,  Philip  Trammel,  was  reelected.* 

The  legal  profession  had  its  first  representative  in  the  legisla- 
tive councils  of  Illinois  this  year  in  the  person  of  Thos.  C.  Browne. 

*  Second  territorial  general  assembly — Council  the  same.  House  of  representatives: 
Risdon  Moore,  speaker,  and  James  Lemen  jr.,  St.  Clair;  Wm.  Rabb,  Madison; 
James  Gilbreath,  Randolph ;  Philip  Trammel  and  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Gallatin ; 
Owen  Evans,  Johnson ;  Wm.  Mears,  clerk.  Second  session :  Jervis  Hazelton,  vice 
Gilbreath,  expelled ;  John  G.  Lofton,  Madison ;  Daniel  P.  Cook,  clerk. 


TERRITORIAL   LAW-MAKING.  26 1 

Now  that  peace  was  once  more  assured,  the  people  again 
turned  their  attention  to  politics,  and  found  it  a  more  pleasing, 
if  less  exciting  and  dangerous  occupation  than  Indian  warfare. 
One  subject  which  early  engaged  their  consideration  was  the 
organization  of  the  courts.  This  was  a  never-failing  source  of 
agitation  and  dispute.  To  be  sure,  there  was  hardly  anything 
for  the  courts  to  do;  their  sessions  were  generally  merely 
nominal;  and  it  would  not  have  made  the  slightest  difference,  so 
far  as  the  welfare  of  the  people  was  concerned,  which  of  the 
plans  proposed  should  be  adopted.  Still  the  question  provoked 
as  much  discussion  as  though  their  very  safety  and  existence  as 
a  people  depended  upon  the  particular  form  of  their  judicial 
system.  This  legislature  passed  a  law  establishing  what  it  called 
the  supreme,  in  place  of  the  general  court,  and  required  the 
judges  to  hold  circuit-courts.  The  judges  opposed  the  law. 
The  governor  favored  it,  and  wrote  a  voluminous  message  in 
support  of  his  view,  which  was  spread  upon  the  journals  of  both 
houses.  The  dispute  was  carried  to  congress,  and  that  body 
finally  disposed  of  the  question  by  sustaining  the  legislature. 
This  harmless  but  exciting  controversy,  which  continued  for 
years,  afforded  a  convenient  yet  ever-present  ground  of  political 
discussion,  to  the  exclusion,  sometimes,  of  more  important  issues. 

The  second  general  assembly  had  two  sessions.  Among  its 
most  important  acts  were  those  relating  to  the  judiciary,  and 
providing  for  the  formation  of  the  counties  of  Edwards,  Jackson, 
and  White. 

The  third  general  assembly,  elected  in  18 16,  met  Dec.  2,  and 
adjourned  Jan.  14.  A  second  session  began  Dec.  I,  18 17,  and 
ended  Jan.  12,  18 18* 

Among  the  laws  passed,  were  those  for  the  incorporation  of 
the  Bank  of  Illinois;  dividing  the  Territory  into  judicial  circuits; 
abolishing  the  office  of  county-treasurer;  incorporating  the  City 

*  Members  of  the  third  general  assembly  Council — Pierre  Menard,  president, 
Randolph  Co.;  John  G.  Lofton,  Madison;  Abraham  Amos,  St.  Clair;  John  Gram- 
mar, Johnson;  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Gallatin;  Joseph  Conway,  secretary;  and  house 
of  representatives — George  Fisher,  speaker,  Randolph;  Charles  R.  Matheny  and 
Wm.  H.  Bradsby,  St.  Clair;  Nathan  Davis,  Jackson;  Joseph  Palmer,  Johnson; 
Seth  Gard,  Edwards;  Samuel  O'Melveny,  Pope;  R.  K.  McLaughlin,  clerk.  At  the 
second  session,  Willis  Hargrave  succeeded  Nathan  Davis,  and  M.  S.  Davenport, 
Seth  Gard.     Daniel  P.  Cook,  clerk. 


262  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  Bank  of  Cairo;  establishing  the  counties  of  Franklin,  Union, 
and  Washington;  and  to  incorporate  medical  societies — under 
the  provisions  of  which  no  one  was  permitted  to  practise  medi- 
cine or  surgery  without  obtaining  a  license  from  the  society. 

The  laws  adopted  in  the  Northwest  Territory  were  generally 
continued  in  force  in  the  territory  of  Indiana,  and  those  of  the 
latter  in  Illinois,  as  has  been  pointed  out.  Among  these,  it  is 
of  interest  to  mention  the  following  as  illustrating  the  changes 
in  public  sentiment  which  have  since  occurred — especially  relative 
to  punishments  for  crime: 

Treason,  murder,  arson,  and  rape,  were  punishable  by  death. 
Burglary  and  robbery,  by  whipping,  fine,  and  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  three  years.  Forgery,  by  fine  in  double  the  sum  of 
which  the  party  had  been  defrauded;  the  culprit  being  inca- 
pacitated from  giving  testimony,  serving  as  juror,  or  holding 
office,  and  to  be  "set  in  the  pillory  not  exceeding  three  hours." 
Bigamy,  by  whipping,  fine,  and  imprisonment,  and  in  1803, 
the  penalty  was  death.  Perjury,  by  fine,  and  whipping,  and 
standing  in  the  pillory.  Larceny,  by  fine,  whipping,  and  being 
required  to  restore  the  stolen  property.  Sabbath-breaking,  by 
a  fine  of  from  fifty  cents  to  two  dollars,  for  which  distress  might 
be  levied.  Profanity,  that  is,  "swearing  by  the  name  of  God, 
Christ  Jesus,  or  the  Holy  Ghost,"  same  penalty  as  sabbath- 
breaking.  Disobedience  of  children  or  servants,  by  being  sent 
to  the  house  of  correction;  and  for  assaulting  parent  or  master, 
whipping.  Drunkenness,  for  the  first  offence,  a  fine  of  five  dimes, 
and  for  each  succeeding  offence,  one  dollar;  on  a  failure  to  pay 
the  fine,  the  delinquent  was  to  be  placed  in  the  stocks  for  one 
hour.  Cock-fighting,  gambling,  or  running  horses  in  the  public 
highway,  by  fine.  Duelling,  when  death  resulted,  was  made 
murder,  and  those  who  aided  and  abetted  the  principal  were 
made  equally  guilty;  the  sending  or  accepting  of  a  challenge 
incapacitated  either  party  from  holding  office.  Bribery,  the 
procuring  of  votes  by  treating  with  meat  or  drink,  by  any  can- 
didate or  other  person  for  him,  was  punishable  by  rendering 
the  offender  ineligible  to  a  seat  in  the  general-assembly  for  two 
years.  In  case  the  defendant  was  unable  to  pay  the  fine 
imposed,  the  court  might  order  him  to  be  hired  out  or  sold  for 
a  period  not  exceeding  seven  years,  to  any  "suitable"  person 
who  would  engage  to  pay  the  fine. 


TERRITORIAL   LAWS.  263 

In  the  collection  of  debts,  all  the  debtors'  property  whether 
personal  or  real,  was  liable  to  sale  under  execution,  and  if  land 
failed  to  sell  for  want  of  bidders,  the  creditor  had  the  privilege 
of  taking  it  at  its  appraised  value — if  there  was  not  sufficient 
property  found  to  satisfy  the  execution,  the  body  of  the  debtor 
might  be  taken  and  committed  to  the  county-jail. 

To  defray  the  expenses  of  the  territorial  government,  a  tax 
was  levied  on  land,  which  was  divided  into  three  classes,  the  first 
of  which  paid  Z7%  cents,  the  second,  75  cents,  and  the  third, 
one  dollar  on  each  hundred  acres. 

County  revenue  was  raised  by  taxing  horses,  cattle,  slaves, 
town-lots,  out-lots,  houses  in  town,  and  "mansion  houses  in  the 
country,"  valued  at  two  hundred  dollars  and  upward,  and  by 
licensing  ferries,  billiard-tables,  and  merchants. 

By  a  law  of  1809,  commissioned  officers,  federal  or  territorial, 
except  justices-of-the-peace  and  militia  officers,  were  rendered 
ineligible  to  a  seat  in  the  general-assembly;  but  the  law  being 
very  unpopular  was  repealed  in  18 14. 

The  feeling  of  the  people  toward  the  aborigines  was  displayed 
by  an  act  passed  in  18 14,  which  offered  a  reward  of  fifty  dollars 
for  each  Indian  taken  or  killed  in  any  white  settlement,  and  of 
one  hundred  dollars  for  any  "warrior,  squaw,  or  child  taken 
prisoner  or  killed  in  their  own  territory." 

In  1816,  the  Bank  of  Illinois  at  Shawneetown,  with  branches 
at  Edwardsville  and  Kaskaskia,  were  incorporated  as  banks  of 
issue  and  deposit;  and  to  sustain  their  circulation  the  people 
were  required  to  receive  their  bills  for  all  debts  or  submit  to  a 
postponement  of  their  collection.  The  bank  at  Shawneetown 
was  said  to  be  well  managed,  and  the  people  sustained  no  losses 
thereby;  but  the  general  government  lost  $54,000  by  the  bank 
at  Edwardsville. 

The  supreme  or  general  court  held  by  the  federal  judges 
had  concurrent,  original  jurisdiction  in  "all  cases,  matters,  and 
things  pertaining  to  property:  real,  personal,  and  mixed";  and 
exclusive  original  jurisdiction  of  the  higher  criminal  offences, 
and  in  all  cases  in  equity  where  the  amount  in  controversy 
exceeded  one  hundred  dollars.  It  possessed  appellate  jurisdic- 
tion in  all  causes  from  the  inferior  courts,  and  the  power  to 
examine,  correct,  and  punish  the  contempts  and  omissions  of 


264  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

any  justice-of-the-peace,   sheriff,   clerk,   or  other  civil  officer, 
within  their  respective  counties. 

By  act  of  18 14,  the  general  court  was  superseded  by  the 
establishment  of  the  supreme  court,  composed  of  the  same 
judges,  who  were  also  required  to  hold  circuit -courts.  At  this 
same  session  the  court  of  common  pleas  was  abolished,  and 
county-courts,  with  inferior  jurisdiction,  established  in  its  place. 

The  federal  judges  first  appointed  continued  in  office  until 
18 1 3,  when  Wm.  Sprigg  succeeded  Obadiah  Jones.  In  181 5, 
Thomas  Towles  was  appointed  in  the  place  of  Stanley  Griswold, 
who  had  been  transferred  to  Michigan  Territory,  and  of  whom 
Reynolds  says:  "Was  a  correct,  honest  man;  a  good  lawyer; 
paid  his  debts;  and  sung  David's  psalms." 

In  18 1 8,  territorial  circuit-courts  were  established,  upon  which 
was  conferred  the  same  original  jurisdiction  as  that  which  had 
been  exercised  by  the  supreme  court,  but  no  appellate.  Under 
this  act  the  following  judges  were  appointed:  Daniel  P.  Cook, 
John  Warnock,  John  McLean,  (declined),  Elias  Kent  Kane, 
William  Mears,  and  Jeptha  Hardin.* 

The  attorneys,  at  one  time,  were  required  to  take  and  subscribe 
the  following  oath,  before  they  could  be  permitted  to  practise: 
"I  swear  that  I  will  do  no  falsehood,  nor  consent  to  the  doing 
of  any,  in  the  courts  of  justice;  and  if  I  know  of  any  intention 

*  The  Territorial  officers  were:  Governor — Ninian  Edwards,  April  24,  1809  to 
Dec.  6,  1818;  Secretaries — Nathaniel  Pope,  March  7,  1809  to  Dec.  17,  i8i6j 
Joseph  Phillips,  Dec.  17,  18 16  to  Oct.  8,  181 8.  Auditors  of  public  accounts — H. 
H.  Maxwell,  1812  to  1816;  Daniel  P.  Cook,  Jan.  13,  1816  to  April  1817  ;  Robert 
Blackwell,  April  5,  1817  to  Aug.  1817;  Elijah  C.  Berry,  Aug.  28,  1817  to  Oct.  9, 
1818.  Attorneys  General — Benj.  H.  Doyle,  July  24,  1809  to  Dec.  1809;  Thomas 
T.  Crittenden,  April,  1810  to  Oct.  1810;  Benj.  M.  Piatt,  Oct.  29,  1810  to  June, 
1813;  Wm.  Mears,  June  23,  1813  to  Feb.  17,  1818.  Treasurer— John  Thomas,  1812 
to  1818.  Delegates  to  congress — Shadrach  Bond,  Dec.  12,  1812  to  1814,  resigned  j 
Benj.  Stephenson,  Sept.  29,  1814  to  1817;  Nathaniel  Pope,  1817  to  1818.  Adju- 
tants General — Elias  Rector,  May  9,  1809  to  July  18,  1809;  Robert  Morrison,  July 
18,  to  May  28,  1810 ;  Elias  Rector,  May  28,  1810  to  Oct.  25,  1813 ;  Benj.  Stephen- 
son, Dec.  13,  1813  to  Oct.  27,  1814;  Wm.  Alexander,  Oct.  27,  1814  to  Dec.  1818. 
Territorial  Judges— Obadiah  Jones,  March  7,  1809  to  1815 ;  Alexander  Stuart, 
March  7,  1809,  resigned;  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  March  7,  1809  to  1818;  Stanley  Gris- 
wold, March  16,  1809  to  1816;  William  Sprigg,  July  29,  1813,  to  1818;  Thomas 
Towles,  Jan.  16,  i8i6to  1818.  Circuit  judges— all  in  1818,  Daniel  P.  Cook,  John 
Warnock,  John  McLean,  (declined),  Elias  Kent  Kane,  Wm.  Mears,  Jeptha  Hardin. 

The  salary  of  the  governor  was  $2000;  secretary  $1000;  territorial  judges,  ap- 
pointed by  the  president,  $1200  each. 


UNITED -STATES   SALINES.  265 

to  commit  any,  I  will  give  knowledge  thereof  to  the  justices  of 
the  said  courts,  or  some  of  them,  that  it  may  be  prevented.  I 
will  nor  willingly  or  wittingly  promote  or  use  any  false,  ground- 
less, or  unlawful  suit,  nor  give  aid  or  counsel  to  the  same;  and 
I  will  conduct  myself  in  the  office  of  an  attorney  within  the  said 
courts,  according  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  discretion, 
and  with  all  good  fidelity,  as  well  to  the  courts  as  my  clients,  so 
help  me  God. :* 

Among  other  duties  devolving  upon  the  governor  was  that  of 
superintending  United-States  salines.  The  salt-works  of  the 
government  in  Gallatin  County  were  extensive  and  profitable. 
By  the  terms  of  the  leases  not  less  than  120,000  bushels  were 
to  be  made  annually,  and  the  price  fixed  at  from  seventy  cents 
to  one  dollar  per  bushel;  the  rent  to  be  paid  was  at  the  rate  of 
36,000  bushels  for  every  120,000  bushels  manufactured.  It  was 
the  duty  of  the  superintendent  to  make  all  contracts  for  leasing 
the  works,  collect  the  rent,  and  provide  for  shipping  the  proceeds. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  labor  at  these  works  was  performed 
by  slaves,  mostly  brought  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  All 
the  salt  required  by  the  people  of  the  Territory  and  surrounding 
country  was  supplied  from  these  works.  By  the  act  enabling 
the  people  to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government  all  the 
salt-springs  within  the  State,  and  the  land  reserved  for  their  use 
were  granted  to  the  State  for  its  use  on  such  terms,  conditions, 
and  regulations,  as  the  legislature  might  prescribe.  The  salt- 
springs  in  Vermilion  County,  included  in  this  grant,  in  1824 
from  eighty  kettles  produced  sixty  to  eighty  bushels  of  salt  per 
week.  The  leasing  and  disposition  of  the  salt-works  was  a 
never-failing  subject  of  legislation  for  thirty  years.  The  receipts 
from  rents  were  not  large  nor  satisfactory.  In  1827,  provision 
was  made  for  the  sale  of  thirty  thousand  acres  of  these  lands, 
one-half  the  proceeds  arising  therefrom  in  Gallatin  County 
being  appropriated  to  the  erection  of  the  first  penitentiary  in 
the  State,  and  the  balance  to  the  improvement  of  Saline  Creek, 
of  the  road  across  Maple  Swamp,  the  building  of  a  bridge  across 
Eagle  Creek,  and  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Little-Wabash 
River.  The  proceeds  arising  from  the  Vermilion-County  sales 
were  appropriated  to  improve  the  Great-Wabash  River. 

*  Dillon's  "Historical  Notes,"  324. 


266  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

In  1829,  the  legislature  provided  for  the  sale  of  the  entire 
reservation  in  Vermilion  County,  the  proceeds  of  which  were 
appropriated  to  the  improvement  of  various  streams,  and  roads, 
and  the  building  of  bridges.  In  1833,  provision  was  made  for 
the  disposition  of  the  saline-lands  in  Bond  County.  Further 
provision  was  made  for  the  sale  of  the  salines  in  Gallatin  County 
in  1836,  and  $12,000  of  the  proceeds  appropriated  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  bridge  across  Saline  Creek,  and  the  balance  for  other 
bridges  and  roads.  In  1847,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the 
sale  of  the  salt-wells  and  coal-lands  in  Gallatin  County  not 
already  disposed  of.  No  report  of  the  quantity  sold,  or  the 
amount  received  from  any  of  these  sales,  appears  among  the 
published  reports  made  to,  or  proceedings  of  the  legislature. 

The  receipts  and  expenditures,  in  gross,  of  the  territorial 
government,  were,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  as  follows: 

Total  amount  of  revenue  from  Nov.i,  18 12,  to 

Nov.  1,  1814         ------  $4875 

Total  amount  collected         -  2516 

Amount  uncollected  in  hands  of  sheriffs           -  $2359 

(No  returns  published  for  18 15,  and  18 16). 

Received  by  treasurer  in  18 17         -  1508 

Received  by  treasurer  ini8i8             -         *         -  2471 

$3979 
Amount  paid  out  -  4°39 

Deficit  $60 

Authorities:  "Laws  of  Congress;"  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois;" 
Edwards'  "History  of  Illinois;"  Laws  and  Reports  of  Illinois. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Early  Territorial  Towns— Growth,  Population  — Politics. 

THE  oldest  town  in  Illinois  is  Cahokia,  on  whose  site,  near 
the  villages  occupied  by  the  Tamaroa  and  Cahokia  Ind- 
ians, Father  Pinet  established  a  mission  in  1699,  where  many 
French  were  found  settled  the  following  year,*  as  heretofore 
stated.  It  is  situated  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  creek  of  that 
name,  three-fourths  of  a  mile  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  four 
miles  from  St.  Louis.  There  is  no  evidence  to  support  the  state- 
ment that  some  of  LaSalle's  followers,  or  Tonty,  made  a  settle- 
ment at  this  place  or  at  Kaskaskia  prior  to  this  time;  but  a 
continuous  occupancy  by  the  priests,  traders,  and  voyageurs  can 
be  traced  from  1699.  A  house  of  worship  and  other  buildings 
were  erected,  and  to  each  new-comer  was  given  a  lot  three 
hundred  feet  square,  which  continues  to  be  the  size  of  the  town- 
lots  to  this  day.  Owing  to  the  natural  disadvantages  of  loca- 
tion it  remained  a  mere  trading-post  and  mission-station  with 
but  little  growth  for  many  years.  In  1722,  this  village  was 
granted  two  tracts  of  land,  one  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  as 
"common  fields"  and  one  for  "commons,"  the  latter  four  leagues 
square;  which  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  congress.  In 
1766,  it  contained,  according  to  Capt.  Pittman,  forty-five  houses. 
After  the  Revolution  its  growth  was  more  marked,  and  in  1795, 
it  was  designated  as  the  county-seat  of  the  county  of  St.  Clair, 
which  it  remained  until  18 14.  In  1800,  its  population  was 
about  400,  which  in  18 18  with  100  houses  had  increased  to 
500.  During  this  latter  decade,  the  place  was  really  prosper- 
ous and  a  large  amount  of  business  was  transacted.  It  was 
greatly  damaged  by  the  flood  of  1844,  and  thereafter  gradually 
fell  into  decay,  its  trade  and  some  of  its  best  citizens  having 
been  attracted  to  St.  Louis,  and  later  to  East  St.  Louis,  so  that 
at  this  time  it  is  a  mere  hamlet,  rejoicing,  however,  in  the  recent 
restoration  of  its  post-office,  of  which  it  was  deprived  some 
years  ago. 

*  Vide  Chapter  IV,  page  85. 

267 


268 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


Kaskaskia,  the  largest  of  these  first  villages,  was  situated  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Kaskaskia  River,  six  miles  north  of  its 
junction  with  the  Mississippi  and  four  miles  east  of  that  river. 
It  is  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  American  Bottom,  the  bluff 
upon  which  Fort  Gage  was  erected  overlooking  it  from  the  east. 


3E 


»So*.""_*  ^ t<z 


A  Plat  of  Kaskaskia,  1765.* 

It  was  Known  as  a  thriving  and  populous  village  long  before 
the  founding  of  New  Orleans,  Pittsburg,  or  St.  Louis.  It  is 
half  a  century  older  than  Cincinnati,  and  had  passed  the  merid- 
ian of  its  fame,  and  into  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf  of  decadence 
before  Chicago  was  even  dreamed  of.  Old  as  the  town  really 
is,  it  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  it  is  neither  so  old  nor 
was  it  ever  so  large  as  some  authorities  have  claimed.  The 
evidence  is  conclusive  that  there  was  no  village  known  by  that 
name  in  that  locality  prior  to  A.D.  1700. 

The  journals  of  Fathers  St.Cosme  and  Gravier,  and  the  nar- 

*  Reduced  from  a  plate  in  Philip  Pittman's  "  Present  State  of  European  Settle- 
ments on  the  Mississippi"  (London,  1770).  Key:  A,  the  fort;  B,  the  Jesuits'  resi- 
dence^  C,  formerly  commanding-officer's  house;  D,  the  church.  Used  by  permission 
from  Winsor's  "Narrative  and  Critical  History"  (W.  F.  Poole's  chapter  on  the 
West,  Vol.  VII). 


KASKASKIA.  269 

rative  of  Pierre  LeSueur,  of  expeditions  down  and  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi about  this  time,  conclusively  establish  this  fact.* 

According  to  the  traditions  of  the  inhabitants,  the  village  of 
Kaskaskia  was  founded  in  1707,  it  being  conceded  that  the 
settlement  of  Cahokia  was  some  years  earlier.f  In  17 10, 
M.  Penicaut  informs  us  that  near  the  village  of  the  Illinois 
(Kaskaskias)  Indians  there  were  three  mills  for  grinding  corn; 
"one  wind-mill  owned  by  the  Jesuits,  and  two  horse-mills 
belonging  to  the  Illinois;"  and  that  they  had  a  very  large 
church  in  their  village,  which  was  well  arranged  in  the  interior; 
besides  the  baptismal  fonts,  there  were  "three  chapels,  orna- 
mented with  a  bell  and  belfry,"{  which  statement  was  confirmed 
by  Father  Marest  in  171 1,  who  stated  further  "that  many  French 
had  arrived  there  and  established  themselves."  It  is  said  to 
have  become  an  incorporated  town  in  1725  ;§  and  in  1743,  a 
grant  of  land  for  a  commons,  previously  made  by  Boisbriant  in 
1722,  was  confirmed  to  it  by  Gov.  Vaudreuil.  The  decade  from 
1740  to  1750  constituted  the  halcyon  period  of  its  existence, 
when  the  villagers  enjoyed  all  the  blessings  of  peace  and  con- 
tentment and  a  prosperous  trade;  and  the  village  had  a  steady 
growth.  In  1765,  according  to  Capt.  Pittman,  it  contained 
sixty-five  families  of  whites,  "besides  merchants  and  casual 
people."  In  1 771,  as  stated  by  Thomas  Hutchins — afterward 
the  government  geographer,  it  contained  eighty  houses,  "many 
of  them  well  built,  several  of  stone,  with  gardens  and  large  lots 
adjoining,"  and  a  population  of  500  whites  and  500  negroes. || 

Although  the  largest  village  therein,  Kaskaskia  did  not 
become  the  capital  of  the  Illinois  country  until  1772,  after  the 
abandonment  of  Fort  Chartres  by  the  British,  as  before  related. 
Before  this  time,  however,  it  is  supposed  that  one-third  of  the 

*  "Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi."  "Magazine  of  American 
History,"  Vol.  VI,  161,  article  by  E.  G.  Mason. 

+  Historical  Sketch,  page  7,  by  William  H.  Brown,  who  formerly  resided  at 
Kaskaskia.     Also  confirmed  by  Pittman,  p.  83. 

$  French's  "History  of  Louisiana,"  VI,  108. 

§  "History  of  Randolph  County,"  p.  304. 

||  The  statement  of  Maj.  Bowman,  with  Col.  Clark,  that  Kaskaskia  contained 
250  houses  at  the  time  it  was  captured,  in  1778,  was  undoubtedly  erroneous,  prob- 
ably a  typographical  error,  as  was  that  placing  the  number  of  inhabitants  at  8000 
at  one  time,  an  extra  cipher  making  all  the  difference. 


2JO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

French  inhabitants  had  removed  to  Ste.  Genevieve  and  St.Louis 
rather  than  become  subjects  of  British  rule.  After  its  capture 
by  Col.  Clark,  the  town  still  further  declined  in  population,  as 
well  as  in  wealth,  until  the  American  immigration  began  after 
the  Revolution.  From  this  time  its  growth  steadily  increased, 
receiving  a  new  impetus  from  the  arrival  of  the  territorial  officers 
in  1809.  In  1816,  the  number  of  houses  had  increased  to  160.* 
Judge  Breese,  who  became  a  resident  of  the  place  in  18 18,  and 
continued  to  live  there  for  several  years,  says,  that  the  popula- 
tion did  not  exceed  800  whites  "in  its  palmiest  days." 

With  the  removal  of  the  State  capital  in  1821,  the  fame  of 
Kaskaskia  began  to  wane.  It  still  continued  to  be  the  county- 
seat  of  Randolph  County,  however,  until  1847.  The  loss  of  this 
prestige,  following  the  great  overflow  of  1844,  was  the  finishing- 
stroke  to  its  greatness.  The  first  brick- house  built  west  of 
Pittsburg,  in  1792,  still  stands,  and  the  dwelling  occupied  by 
Gov.  Coles;  but  the  old  academy,  or  convent  as  it  was  some- 
times called,  which  cost  $30,000,  and  the  mansions  of  Edgar 
and  Morrison  have  long  since  gone  to  decay.  It  is  now  a  still- 
declining  and  out-of-the-way  village,  whose  final  destruction  the 
mighty  Mississippi,  which  has  already  made  an  island  of  its  site 
by  cutting  its  way  through  to  the  Okaw,  threatens  soon  to 
accomplish. 

For  over  half  a  century,  however,  it  was  the  metropolis  of  the 
Upper- Mississippi  Valley,  and  during  this  period  it  was  the 
Mecca  of  all  explorers,  and  the  focus  of  commerce  in  the  North- 
west Territory.  The  most  interesting  associations  cluster  around 
its  historic  name. 

Here  resided  John  Edgar,  Wm.  and  Robert  Morrison,  Pierre 
Menard,  Ninian  Edwards,  Shadrach  Bond,  Edward  Coles,  Dan'l 
P.  Cook.  Nathaniel  Pope,  E.  K.  Kane,  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Benj. 
Stephenson,  Thomas  Mather,  Sidney  Breese,  David  J.  Baker, 
Richard  M.  Young,  Philip  Fouke,  William  H.  Brown,  James 
Shields,  and  Thomas  Reynolds,  all  of  whom  have  borne  a  dis- 
tinguished part  in  the  formative  political  movements  of  the 
State.  Some  of  them  were  married  there,  and  the  remains  of 
others  are  there  buried.  The  old-church  bell,  memento  of  a  dim 
past,  cast  expressly  for  the  Church  of  the  Illinois,  and  which 

*  Brown's  "Gazetteer,"  p.  27. 


EARLY   TOWNS.  27 1 

first  pealed  forth  its  glad  or  solemn  sounds  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  still  swings  in  the  belfry,  calling  to  matins  or  vespers 
as  of  yore;  but  all  those  who  walked  the  streets  of  the  old 
town,  and  carved  high  their  names  upon  the  roll  of  fame,  are 
now  in  their  silent  graves,  and  today  the  old  bell  seems  only 
to  chant  the  solemn  requiem  of  the  past.* 

Prairie  du  Rocher,  another  of  the  ancient  French  villages, 
having  a  church  and  a  store  at  this  early  period,  being  more 
isolated  than  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia,  did  not  experience  the 
adverse  fortunes  of  those  towns,  but  pursued  the  even  tenor  of 
its  way,  and  at  this  time  contains  a  population  of  over  300. 

Peoria,  an  ancient  French  and  Indian  village  of  this  name, 
was  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  Peoria  Lake,  at  a  very  early 
day;  it  was  called  by  the  French  Opa,  and  was  first  occupied  by 
them  it  is  said,  in  1711.  This  village  was  abandoned  by  the 
French  about  1775,  for  a  healthier  and  more  convenient  location, 
near  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  the  site  of  the  present  city.  From 
1778,  when  the  first  house  was  built,  this  village  was  continu- 
ously occupied  until  1812,  when  the  place  was  taken  by  Capt. 
Craig,  the  inhabitants  to  the  number  of  seventy-five  forcibly 
removed  therefrom,  and  the  village  destroyed.  At  this  time  it 
contained  a  population  of  about  two  hundred.f  No  attempt 
was  made  to  re-occupy  the  town  from  that  time  until  18 19  when 
a  colony,  consisting  of  Abner  Eads,  J.  Henry,  Seth  Fulton, 
Josiah  Fulton,  S.  Dougherty,  J.  Davis,  and  T.  Russell  immi- 
grated to  the  place,  then  called  Fort  Clark,  from  Shoal  Creek 
in  Clinton  County.!  From  the  rude  log-cabins  of  these  hardy 
pioneers  has  arisen  the  present  beautiful  and  growing  city  of 
this  name. 

Shawneetown,  which  was  laid  out  in  1808,  had  by  18 18,  grown 
to  be  one  of  the  largest  towns  in  the  Territory.  Then  as  now, 
it  was  the  county-seat  of  Gallatin  County,  and  was  for  years  the 

*  This  old  bell,  the  first  of  any  size  in  the  Upper- Mississippi  Valley,  weighs 
about  six  hundred  and  fifty  pounds — height  about  twenty-eight  inches — ornamented 
on  one  side  with  three  groups  of  fleur-de-lis  in  relief;  on  the  other  by  a  cross  and 
pedestal,  the  top  and  arms  of  cross  terminating  in  grouped  fleur-de-lis.  The  follow- 
ing inscription  is  cast  in  the  bell :  "  Pour  l'eglise  des  Illinois.  Par  les  Soins  du 
Sr.  Dutreleau,  L.B.M.,  Normand,  a  la  Rochele,  1741."  o.  w.  collet. 

t  Gov.  Coles,  in  Edwards'  "  Illinois, "  66. 

X  Ballance's   "History   of  Peoria,"   45. 


272  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

first  stopping  place  for  immigrants  to  Illinois.  It  boasted  of  a 
bank,  a  printing-office,  a  land-office,  ioo  dwelling-houses,  and  a 
population  of  500.  It  was  in  some  respects  a  rival  town  to 
Kaskaskia.  Here  resided,  John  McLean,  Thomas  C.  Browne, 
Joseph  M.  Street,  Michael  Jones  after  18 14,  Wm.  J.  Gatewood, 
and  Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard. 

Upper  Alton  was  founded  in  18 16,  and  two  years  later  con- 
tained nearly  one  hundred  houses.  The  inhabitants  were  chiefly 
enterprising  immigrants  from  the  Eastern  States. 

Alton  was  laid  out  in  18 18,  and  grew  rapidly.  It  very  soon 
assumed  a  leading  place  among  the  growing  towns  of  the 
State.  Having  a  fine  steamboat- landing,  and  inexhaustible 
beds  of  coal  and  limestone  of  superior  quality  in  its  immediate 
vicinity,  large  amounts  of  capital  were  attracted  to  the  place, 
and  business  of  a  considerable  volume  transacted. 

Belleville  was  situated  in  the  flourishing  settlement  called 
Turkey  Hill.  It  was  selected  as  the  site  of  the  county-seat  of 
St.  Clair  in  18 14,  and  by  18 18,  contained  a  population  of  500, 
priding  itself  on  the  possession  of  a  court-house,  jail,  an  acade- 
my, and  a  public  library.  At  different  periods  in  its  history  it 
has  been  the  home  of  three  of  the  State's  executives — Edwards, 
Reynolds,  and  Bissell. 

Edwardsville  was  founded  in  18 15,  and  three  years  thereafter, 
it  contained  seventy  dwellings,  besides  a  number  of  public 
buildings,  among  them  a  land-office,  court-house,  jail,  and  a 
brick  market-house.  Gov.  Edwards,  in  whose  honor  the  town 
was  named,  resided  here  at  one  time,  as  did  also  Gov.  Coles. 

The  towns  of  Carmi,  Fairfield,  Waterloo,  Golconda,  Lawrence- 
ville,  Mt.  Carmel,  Harrisonville,  and  Vienna,  had  just  sprung 
into  existence,  Neither  Springfield,  Jacksonville,  Carrollton, 
or  Quincy,  had  as  yet  been  thought  of,  and  Chicago  was  men- 
tioned in  "Beck's  Gazetteer"  as  "a  village  in  Pike  County." 

With  the  close  of  the  war  in  18 15,  the  inhabitants  of  Illinois 
Territory  entered  upon  a  new  era  of  peace  and  prosperity. 
During  that  dark  period  many  settlers,  discouraged  in  their 
efforts  to  protect  themselves  from  the  attacks  of  the  Indians, 
and  finding  only  a  precarious  security  for  their  possessions,  had 
packed  up  their  "plunder"  and  turned  back  whence  they  came. 
These,  with  large  additions,   now  returned   to  the   "beautiful 


GROWTH   OF   TOWNS   AND   SETTLEMENTS.  273 

country  of  the  Illinois."  No  more  glowing  accounts  of  its 
attractive  features  could  have  been  given  than  those  of  the 
soldiers  who  had  lately  traversed  its  prairies  and  groves  in 
battle  array.  Their  praise  of  its  rich  soil,  its  forest- fringed 
streams,  and  agreeable  climate,  was  carried  back  not  only  to  their 
own  neighborhoods,  but  to  other  states,  and  as  a  result  old 
settlements  were  henceforth  continually  enlarged  and  new  ones 
formed. 

The  passage  of  the  preemption  law  in  18 13,  by  which  the 
settler  was  given  an  opportunity  to  secure  a  title  to  his  home, 
the  tenure  to  which  had  been  before  uncertain,  disposed  of  one 
of  the  gravest  objections  to  removing  to  the  Territory.  When 
immigrants  realized  that  they  might  acquire  a  title  in  fee  to  the 
soil  whereon  they  lived,  and  provide  permanent  homes  for  their 
families,  both  old  and  new  settlers  conceived  a  stronger  attach- 
ment as  citizens  to  the  country  of  their  choice. 

During  the  four  years  of  unprecedented  territorial  growth 
which  followed  the  close  of  the  war,  to  the  counties  of  St.  Clair, 
Randolph,  Madison,  Johnson,  and  Gallatin,  which  had  been  or- 
ganized prior  to  18 14,  there  were  added  the  following:  Edwards 
and  White,  taken  from  Gallatin;  Jackson,  from  Randolph  and 
Johnson;  Monroe,  from  Randolph  and  St.  Clair;  Pope,  from 
Gallatin  and  Johnson;  Crawford,  from  Gallatin;  Bond,  from 
Madison;  Franklin,  from  Gallatin,  White  and  Jackson;  Union 
from  Johnson;  and  Washington  from  St.  Clair;  making  in  all 
at  the  close  of  the  territorial  period,  fifteen  counties,  covering 
the  southern  one-fourth  of  the  State,  and  in  each  of  which  were 
sparse,  but  rapidly-increasing  settlements  and  communities. 

The  old  familiar  French  names  in  the  counties  of  St.  Clair, 
Randolph,  and  Monroe,  gradually  disappeared  from  the  lists  of 
officers  and  juries.  American  ideas,  with  the  introduction  of 
American  laws  and  customs,  began  to  predominate.  Yet  the 
two  classes  were  not  antagonistic,  but  rather  mingled  harmoni- 
ously, and  formed  a  society,  at  once  agreeable  and  lively,  and 
conducive  to  the  growth  and  importance  of  the  towns  formerly 
nearly  all  French. 

Although  parties  were  not  then  organized  as  they  came  to  be 
after  1832,  they  existed  nevertheless  in  all  their  fulness  and 
strength.  The  cry  of  "Measures  not  men"  had  not  yet  been 
18 


274  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

evoked  from  political  chaos,  but  on  the  contrary,  party- lines 
and  divisions  were  formed  altogether  upon  personal  predi- 
lections for  public  men.  It  thus  frequently  happened  that  a 
candidate's  warmest  supporter  was  a  friend  with  whom  on 
public  questions  he  was  as  likely  to  differ  as  to  agree.  Or 
while  there  might  be  some  point  of  agreement  on  a  particular 
question  upon  which  there  had  been  a  union  of  interest,  upon 
all  others  their  views  would  be  widely  separated. 

Inconsistent  as  was  this  division  of  voters,  it  was  not  without 
its  advantages  to  the  people.  A  public  man  was  required  to 
possess  certain  qualifications,  without  which  no  road  to  success 
was  ever  opened  to  him.  One  of  these  was  a  prepossessing 
personal  appearance;  another  was  the  ability  to  make  a  speech. 
He  must  also  be  good  natured,  generous,  witty,  and  brave.  He 
was  the  focus  of  all  eyes,  and  the  constant  object  of  the  critical 
watchfulness  of  his  opponents.  Woe  be  to  the  candidate  for 
official  preferment,  who  was  known  or  even  suspected  of  doing 
a  mean  or  cowardly  act;  for  this  the  judgment  was  sudden  and 
severe,  and  there  was  no  forgiveness.  Mistakes,  unless  com- 
mitted by  a  sufficient  number  to  form  a  party,  met  with  as 
swift,  and  unrelenting  condemnation,  as  crimes.  A  man  might 
be  known  to  be  fond  of  cards  or  the  turf,  or  to  indulge  too  freely 
in  his  cups,  without  detriment,  but  to  support  and  vote  for  an 
unpopular  measure  was  an  offence  not  to  be  overlooked  or  for- 
gotten— it  was  ever  after  "thrown  up  to  him." 

During  the  territorial  period  of  Illinois,  and  for  some  ten 
years  thereafter,  parties  thus  constituted  were  divided  as  follows: 
on  the  one  side  were  arrayed  Gov.  Edwards,  Judge  Pope,  D.  P. 
Cook,  Judge  Browne,  George  Forquer,  and  others  of  less  note; 
on  the  other  Gov.  Bond,  Judge  Thomas,  Michael  Jones,  John 
McLean,  E.  K.  Kane,  and  Wm.  Kinney.  John  Reynolds  so 
managed  as  to  be  friendly  with  and  receive  support  from  both 
sides,  but  was  generally  found  with  the  Edwards  party. 

The  people  were  no  mean  politicians,  and  were  not  unin- 
formed in  regard  to  all  public  questions.  Although  they  pos- 
sessed but  few  books,  and  the  one  or  two  newspapers  of  but 
four  pages  in  the  Territory  contained  only  advertisements  and 
official  publications;  with  the  mails  only  bringing  them  a  few 
documents  now  and  then,  and   the  most  of  the  voters  being 


EARLY   POLITICAL   PARTIES.  2/5 

barely  able  to  read  "coarse  print,"  and  sign  their  names,  they 
had  a  thorough  comprehension  of  the  status  of  parties,  a  keen 
appreciation  of  the  arguments  by  which  their  measures  were 
sustained,  and  a  clear  insight  into  the  lives  and  characters  of 
all  public  functionaries.  Having  no  occupations  demanding 
much  time  or  attention,  they  devoted  the  largest  portion  of 
both  to  the  gaining  of  information  through  oral  discussions  at 
their  firesides,  and  all  public  gatherings. 

The  contests  at  elections  with  parties  thus  constituted,  during 
these  many  years,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  were  full  of  interest 
and  attended  by  great  excitement.  The  success  of  a  personal 
friend,  or  of  an  admired  public  man  was  at  stake;  and  every 
effort  was  put  forth  to  secure  him  votes  at  the  polls. 


Period  V. — Under  the  First  Constitution, 

1818-1848. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


Admission  as  a  State — The  Enabling  Act — Constitutional 
Convention — First  Constitution — Action  of  Congress. 

NEITHER  the  Ordinance  of  1787  nor  the  constitution  pre- 
scribes any  form  of  procedure  for  the  organization  and 
admission  of  new  states.  Each  application  has  been  considered 
solely  upon  the  merits  of  the  particular  case  inviting  congres- 
sional action,  according  to  the  facts.  Nor  have  the  enabling 
acts  of  congress  shown  any  uniformity  in  either  the  rules  laid 
down,  or  the  limitations  and  restrictions  imposed;  and  indeed 
the  following-named  states:  Vermont,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Maine,  Michigan,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Iowa,  California,  and  Ore- 
gon, were  admitted  into  the  Union  without  the  preliminary 
passage  by  congress  of  any  enabling  act  whatever. 

At  the  January  session,  18 18,  of  the  Illinois  territorial  legisla 
ture,  so  greatly  had  the  population  increased,  that  a  resolution 
was  adopted  directing  Congressional-delegate  Nathaniel  Pope, 
who  had  been  elected  in  18 17  to  succeed  Benjamin  Stephenson 
to  present  a  petition  to  congress  requesting  the  enactment  of  a 
law  to  enable  the  people  to  form  a  state  government;  and  a  bill 
for  that  purpose  was  introduced,  April  7,  18 18. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787,  in  fixing  the  limits  of  the  three  states 
to  be  formed  out  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  provided  that 
congress  should  have  authority  to  form  one  or  more  states  out 
of  so  much  of  that  portion  of  the  territory  set  apart  for  the 
western  state  therein  "which  lies  north  of  an  east-and-west  line 
drawn  through  the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan." 

With  this  provision  in  view,  in  the  bill  as  reported  by 
the  committee,  the  northern  boundary  of  the  proposed  new 
state  was  fixed  on  the  north  parallel  of  41°  39".  The  house 
having  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  to  con- 

276 


ACTION    OF   CONGRESS.  277 

sider  the  same,  Mr.  Pope  moved  to  amend  by  striking  out 
the  lines  defining  the  boundary  of  the  new  state  and  inserting 
the  following:  "Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  River, 
hence  up  the  same,  and  with  the  line  of  Indiana  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  said  State,  thence  east  with  the  line  of  the  same 
State  to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan,  thence  north  along  the 
middle  of  said  lake  to  north  latitude  42  °  30",  thence  west  to  the 
middle  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  thence  down  along  the 
middle  of  that  river  to  its  confluence  with  the  Ohio  River,  and 
thence  up  the  latter  river  along  its  northwest  shore  to  the 
beginning." 

Mr.  Pope  explained  the  object  of  his  amendment,  and  urged 
its  adoption  for  the  following  reasons:  that  the  proposed  new 
state  by  reason  of  her  geographical  position  even  more  than 
on  account  of  the  fertility  of  her  soil,  was  destined  to  become 
populous  and  influential;  that  if  her  northern  boundary  was 
fixed  by  a  line  arbitrarily  established  rather  than  naturally 
determined,  and  her  commerce  was  to  be  confined  to  that  great 
artery  of  communication,  the  Mississippi,  which  washed  her 
entire  western  border,  and  to  its  chief  tributary  on  the  south, 
the  Ohio,  there  was  a  possibility  that  her  commercial  rela- 
tions with  the  south  might  become  so  closely  connected  that  in 
the  event  of  an  attempted  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  Illinois 
would  cast  her  lot  with  the  Southern  States.  On  the  other  hand 
to  fix  the  northern  boundary  of  Illinois  upon  such  a  parallel  of 
latitude  as  would  give  to  the  state  territorial  jurisdiction  over 
the  southwestern  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  would  be  to  unite 
the  incipient  commonwealth  to  the  states  of  Indiana,  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  and  New  York  in  a  bond  of  common  interest 
well-nigh  indissoluble.  By  the  adoption  of  such  a  line,  Illinois 
might  become  at  some  future  time  the  keystone  to  the  perpetu- 
ity of   the  Union. 

The  feasibility  of  opening  a  canal  between  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Illinois  River,  was  admitted  by  every  one  who  had 
inspected  the  location,  and  given  the  subject  consideration. 
If  the  port  of  Chicago  were  included' within  the  boundaries  of 
the  proposed  state,  the  attention  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter 
would  naturally  be  directed  to  the  opening  up  of  a  water-way, 
between  the  river  named  and  the  great  fresh-water  sea,  and  the 


278  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

early  improvement  of  the  entire  region.  The  successful  prose- 
cution of  such  an  enterprise,  would  not  only  open  up  new  chan- 
nels of  trade,  but  would  tend  to  bind  together  the  East  and  West 
by  a  chain  whose  links  would  be  welded  together  not  only  by 
friendship  but  by  a  community  of  interest.  And  thus  with 
common  ties,  and  interests  reaching  out  to  the  East  as  well  as 
the  South,  an  equilibrium  of  sentiment  would  be  established, 
which  would  forever  oppose  the  formation  of  separate  and 
independent  confederacies  on  the  north,  south,  east,  or  west. 

The  arguments  adduced  by  Mr.  Pope  were  deemed  conclusive, 
and  his  amendment  was  adopted  without  a  division.  By  this 
well-timed  action,  thus  wisely  forecasting  future  events,  and 
indeed  anticipating  a  contingency  which  actually  occurred  less 
than  fifty  years  thereafter,  there  was  secured  to  Illinois  an  addi- 
tional strip  of  territory,  fifty-one  miles  in  width,  extending  from 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  River,  out  of  which  afterward 
were  formed  fourteen  populous  and  wealthy  counties. 

Had  the  line  originally  proposed  by  the  committee  been 
adopted,  Chicago  would  not  have  grown  into  the  imperial  city 
she  now  is,  because  the  building  of  the  Illinois-and-Michigan 
Canal,  and  the  Illinois-Central  Railroad,  which  have  contributed 
so  largely  to  her  progress  and  prosperity,  and  which  were  wholly 
the  offspring  of  Illinois  enterprise  and  statesmanship,  would 
never  have  become  accomplished  facts. 

Mr.  Pope  "builded  even  better  than  he  knew."  But  for  the 
vote  of  these  counties  since  1854,  Illinois  would  have  been  as 
thoroughly  a  democratic  state  as  Missouri;  the  legislature 
elected  that  year  would  have  sustained  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
in  his  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  Lyman  Trumbull  would  not 
have  been  elected  to  the  U.-S.  senate.  It  was  the  vote  of  these 
counties  that  elected  the  republican  state-ticket  in  1856,  which 
secured  the  State  to  that  party,  and  rendered  possible  the  can- 
didacy of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  presidency  in  i860.  And 
the  whole  train  of  momentous  events  wrought  out  by  his  elec- 
tion, would  never  have  occurred  but  for  the  fact  that  these 
fourteen  northern  counties  were  included  within  the  limits  of 
Illinois,  rather  than  those  of  Wisconsin. 

While  Mr.  Pope  was  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  place  of 
indefinite  locality  called  Chicago,  including  the  country  around 


THE   NORTHERN-BOUNDARY   CONTROVERSY.  279 

the  southwestern  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  had  always  been 
considered  as  a  part  of  the  legitimate  territory  of  Illinois,  and 
that  the  project  of  the  canal  referred  to  by  him  was  purely  an 
Illinois  measure,  yet  the  securing  of  the  adoption  of  the  above 
important  amendment,  fraught  with  such  material  results  was 
of  his  own  motion,  and  on  his  own  responsibility,  without  the 
instruction  or  advice  of  his  constituents. 

Subsequent  attempts  were  frequently  made  to  restore  the 
northern  boundary-line  as  originally  reported,  and  as  late  as 
1842  an  effort  was  put  forth  in  that  direction  by  Gov.  Jas.  Duane 
Doty  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  who  addressed  a  communica- 
tion to  the  residents  within  the  district  in  Illinois  covered  by 
the  terms  of  Pope's  amendment  urging  them  to  avail  themselves 
of  their  supposed  right  to  form  an  independent  government. 
And  strange  as  it  may  now  appear  many  of  the  inhabitants  in 
the  middle  and  western  portions  of  the  disputed  territory  were 
strenuously  in  favor  of  being  set  off  to  Wisconsin.  Meetings 
were  held,  resolutions  condemning  the  change  of  line  as  a  vio- 
lation of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  in  favor  of  the  proposed 
action  were  adopted,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  the  Wisconsin  authorities.  Chicago,  however, 
had  a  clearer  conception  of  her  interests,  and  although  she  was 
offered  a  United-States  senatorship  in  exchange  for  her  support 
of  the  Wisconsin  project,  her  citizens  gave  it  no  countenance.* 

The  legislative  council  of  Wisconsin  in  February,  1842,  re- 
ported a  bill  referring  the  question  of  forming  a  state  govern- 
ment to  the  people  at  the  next  election,  and  invited  the 
inhabitants  of  the  disputed  territory  to  hold  an  election  at  the 
same  time  on  the  question  of  uniting  with  the  people  of 
Wisconsin  in  forming  such  state  government.  D.  A.  J.  Upham, 
a  member,  insisted  upon  this  action,  and  in  a  speech  stated  that 
"with  legal  and  immutable  justice  on  our  side,  the  moral  and 
physical  force  of  Illinois,  of  the  whole  Union,  can  not  make  us 
retrace  our  steps."  But  the  house  did  not  sympathize  with  this 
belligerent  spirit,  and  refused  to  adopt  the  proposed  measure. 
Gov.  Doty,  however,  in  the  following  June,  officially  notified 
Gov.  Carlin  that  the  fourteen  northern  counties  of  the  State 
of   Illinois    were   not   within    the   constitutional    boundaries   of 

*  Hon.  John  Wentworth's  MS. 


280  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

that  State;  and  that  its  exercise  of  judisdiction  therein  was 
"accidental  and  temporary."  To  this  communication  no  reply- 
was  made.  In  the  following  August,  Gov.  Doty  issued  a  proc- 
lamation, on  his  own  responsibility,  calling  on  all  the  people 
within  the  "ancient  limits  of  Wisconsin"  to  vote  on  a  day  named, 
on  the  question  of  forming  a  state  government;  to  which  but 
little  attention  was  paid.  This  he  repeated  the  following  year 
with  a  like  result — the  general  assembly  having  refused  to  make 
such  a  call. 

The  legislature  of  1843-4  adopted  an  elaborate  address  to 
congress  on  the  subject,  which  that  body  failed  or  refused  to  act 
upon,  and  the  controversy  thereupon  ended,  until  the  admission 
of  the  state,  in  1848,  when  the  line  of  420  30"  was  confirmed — 
not  however  without  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  revive  the  question 
of  its  validity  in  the  constitutional  convention.* 

Whether  the  action  of  congress  in  establishing  the  northern 
boundary-line  of  Illinois  was  an  infraction  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  was  a  question  to  which  Pope  had  undoubtedly  given  very 
careful  consideration  before  he  ventured  on  proposing  it.  He 
was  an  able  lawyer  himself,  and  there  were  many  other  mem- 
bers of  congress  familiar  with  the  subject,  who  would  not  have 
consented  to  the  proposition  if  there  had  been  any  doubt  in 
regard  to  its  constitutionality. 

The  proviso  of  the  ordinance  in  question  (Art.  5)  has  already 
been  given.  The  legal  question  involved,  and  the  argument  to 
sustain  the  constitutionality  of  the  action  of  congress,  have  been 
by  no  one  more  clearly  stated  than  by  Gov.  Ford,  who  was  one 
of  the  ablest  of  Illinois'  early  judges,  and  whose  attention  was 
directed  to  it  in  consequence  of  his  official  relations  to  the 
controversy,  as  the  executive  of  Illinois.  "There  is  nothing," 
says  the  governor,  "in  the  ordinance  requiring  such  additional 
state  (or  states)  to  be  formed  of  the  territory  north  of  that 
line;  another  state  might  be  formed  in  that  district  of  country, 
but  not  of  it;  it  need  not  necessarily  include  the  whole.  By 
extending  the  limits  of  Illinois  north  of  the  disputed  line,  con- 
gress still  had  the  power  to  make  a  new  state  in  that  district 
north  of  it,  not  including  the  portion  g*iven  to  Illinois.'y     As 

*  "Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,"  XI,  498-500. 
+  Ford's  "History  of  Illinois,"  21. 


THE   ENABLING   ACT.  28 1 

notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  those  who  advocated  the  other 
view,  congress  refused  to  disturb  its  former  action,  it  is  fair  to 
conclude  that  the  opinion  thus  expressed  was  considered  sound ; 
and  indeed  it  has  never  since  been  seriously  questioned  by  any 
competent  authority. 

The  bill  as  originally  presented  provided  that  the  State's  pro- 
portion of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  should  be 
appropriated  to  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals.  Mr.  Pope 
offered  the  following  amendment:  "that  two-fifths  of  said  pro- 
ceeds be  disbursed  under  the  direction  of  congress  in  making 
roads  leading  to  the  State;  the  residue  to  be  appropriated  by 
the  legislature  of  the  State  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  of 
which  one-sixth  part  shall  be  exclusively  bestowed  on  a  college 
or  university." 

In  support  of  this  amendment  he  remarked:  that  the  applica- 
tion of  this  fund  to  the  construction  of  roads,  in  other  states, 
had  not  been  productive  of  the  good  results  anticipated,  but 
that  the  importance  of  education  in  a  republic  was  universally 
acknowledged.  He  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  want  of  roads 
in  new  communities,  being  immediate  and  local,  might  safely 
be  left  to  the  inhabitants  to  provide  for  as  their  existing  inter- 
ests might  require;  but  that  education  being  a  more  remote 
benefit  might  be  neglected.  This  important  amendment  was 
also  adopted  without  objection.  It  brought  to  the  permanent 
school  fund  of  the  State  a  sum  which  now  amounts  to  $156,613. 

Another  vital  point  calling  for  consideration  in  the  enabling 
act,  was  the  question  of  population.  The  Ordinance  of  1787 
provided  that  "whenever  any  of  said  states  shall  have  60,000 
free  inhabitants  therein  such  state  shall  be  admitted,  by  its 
delegates,  into  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  *  *  and 
so  far  as  it  can  be,  consistent  with  the  general  interest  of  the 
confederacy,  such  admission  shall  be  allowed  at  an  earlier  period, 
and  when  there  may  be  a  less  number  of  free  inhabitants  in  the 
state  than  60,000."  Mr.  Pope  well  knew  that  the  Territory  did 
not  contain  the  required  60,000,  and  he  succeeded  in  fixing  in 
the  act  the  number  of  40,000  as  being  sufficient.* 

The  bill  as  thus  variously  amended  became  a  law,  April  18, 
18 1 8.     No  man  ever  rendered  the  State  a  more  important  ser- 

*  "Abridgment  of  the  Debates  of  Congress,"  VI,  173. 


282  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

vice  in  congress  than  did  Nathaniel  Pope,  to  whom  the  people  of 
Illinois  are  indebted  for  securing  the  passage  of  this  enabling 
law,  upon  which  he  succeeded  in  ingrafting  the  important  pro- 
visions above  set  forth.  And  if  political  rewards  were  meted 
out  in  proportion  to  the  merits  of  the  service  rendered,  the 
people's  representatives  would  with  one  accord  have  selected 
him  as  their  senator  in  congress,  at  one  time  when  he  had  signi- 
fied his  willingness  to  accept  that  position;  bright  and  steady  as 
was  his  fame  as  a  jurist,  it  would  have  paled  before  the  brilliant 
lustre  of  his  career  as  a  statesman. 

The  taking  of  the  census  of  1818  was  certainly  liable  to 
objection  as  to  the  exceedingly  doubtful  methods  adopted  to 
swell  the  figures.  The  admission  as  a  state  that  year  depended 
upon  the  fact  that  the  population  numbered  40,000;  and  when 
it  began  to  appear  that  it  might  fall  short,  the  marshal  sta- 
tioned his  deputies  on  the  large  thoroughfares,  and  instructed 
them  to  count  everybody  that  passed,  explorers  as  well  as 
movers;  nor  were  any  inquiries  to  be  made  of  immigrants  as  to 
their  ultimate  destination.  Thus  entire  families  were  sometimes 
counted  not  only  when  they  entered  the  Territory,  but  repeatedly 
after  as  they  passed  through  on  their  way  to  their  journey's  end.* 
In  this  way  the  returns  were  made  to  foot  up  the  requisite 
40,000,  but  as  corrected  and  subsequently  ascertained,  the  popu- 
lation really  amounted  to  but  34,620.-)-  Illinois  was  therefore 
admitted  into  the  Union  with  the  smallest  population  of  any  of 
the  thirty-eight  states  of  which  it  is  now  composed — that  of 
Ohio  was  45,365,  Indiana,  63,897,  Arkansas,  52,240,  Nevada, 
40,000,  and  all  the  others  still  larger. 

The  way  being  now  made  clear  by  the  completion  of  the 
census,  an  election  was  held,  as  provided  for  in  the  enabling 
act,  on  the  first  Monday  in  July  (6),  18 18,  and  the  two  following 
days,  for  the  selection  of  delegates  to  a  convention  to  frame  a 
constitution. 

The  delegates  thus  elected  assembled  at  Kaskaskia,  on  the 
first  Monday  in  August  (3),  and  the  body  organized  by  the 
election  of  Jesse  B.  Thomas  as  president,  and  Wm.  C.  Greenup, 
secretary.     There  is  no  official  record  of  its  proceedings,  among 

*  William  H.  Brown,  in  "Fergus'  Historical  Series,"  No.  14. 
+  Senate  doc.  49.  Congressional  Report  15. 


ADMISSION    AS   A   STATE.  283 

the  State  archives.  If  any  was  made  or  published,  neither  the 
original  nor  any  copy  has  been  preserved.  It  was  composed  of 
thirty-three  members,  chiefly  farmers  of  limited  education,  but 
many  of  whom  were  not  without  fine  natural  abilities,  sound 
judgment,  and  experience  in  public  affairs.  The  bar  was  slimly 
represented,  having  only  five  members,  Messrs.  Thomas,  Hub- 
bard, Hall,  Kitchell,  and  Kane.  The  latter  it  is  generally 
admitted  was  its  leading  spirit,  and  to  him  must  be  awarded 
the  credit  of  the  arrangement,  as  well  as  of  the  composition, 
wherever  original  matter  was  introduced  into  the  instrument 
adopted.  The  article  relating  to  slavery  was  the  subject  of 
warm  debate,  and  furnished  the  only  exciting  topic  of  discus- 
sion during  the  session.*  The  convention  concluded  its  labors 
August  26,  and  a  copy  of  the  constitution  was  immediately 
transmitted  to  congress  for  approval.*f 

When  John  McLean,  who  had  been  elected  to  congress,  pre- 
sented himself  in  the  house  with  the  instrument,  and  asked 
leave  to  take  his  seat  as  a  representative  from  Illinois,  objection 
was  made  on  the  ground  that  congress  had  not  concluded  the 
act  of  admission.  Gen.  Harrison,  then  a  member  from  Ohio, 
insisted  that  according  to  precedent,  the  house  had  taken  it  for 
granted  that  the  requirements  of  the  enabling  act  had  been 
complied  with,  and  that  the  member  elect  should  be  admitted 
without  question.  But  the  request  was  denied  by  a  decisive 
majority,  and  the  constitution  at  the  same  time  was  referred  to 
a  select  committee  composed  of  Richard  C.  Anderson,  jr.,  of 
Kentucky,  George  Poindexter,  and  William  Hendricks.  On 
November  20,  the  committee  reported  a  resolution  in  favor  of 
the  admission  of  the  State  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
thirteen;  which  was  read  twice  and  ordered  to  a  third  reading. 
On  November  23,  it  was  read  a  third  time,  and  on  the  question 
of  its  passage,  James  Tallmadge,  jr.,  of  New  York,  opposed  its 
adoption  on  the  following  grounds:  first,  there  was  not  sufficient 
evidence  before  congress  that  the  Territory  contained  the  requi- 
site population;  and  secondly,  and  chiefly  because  the  principle 
of  slavery,  if  not  positively  sanctioned,  by  the  constitution,  was 

*  William  H.  Brown,  "Fergus'  Historical  Series,"  No.  14. 
t  The  pay  of  the  members  was  $4  per  day,  and  the  entire  amount  expended  for 
stationery  was  $74.55. 


284  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL    AND   STATISTICAL. 

not  sufficiently  prohibited.  During  the  discussion  he  read  the 
provision  relating  to  this  subject  and  called  particular  attention 
to  the  clause  reading  that  slavery  "shall  not  hereafter  be  intro- 
duced into  the  State."    He  urged  his  objections  at  some  length. 

Mr.  Poindexter  of  Mississippi,  in  reply,  stated  that  while  he 
agreed  with  what  had  been  said  as  to  the  evils  of  slavery,  and 
that  it  would  be  a  blessing  if  some  wise  plan  could  be  devised  to 
get  rid  of  it,  and  that  he  hoped  that  neither  Ohio,  Indiana,  nor 
Illinois  would  ever  permit  its  introduction  within  their  limits,  yet 
he  could  see  no  reason  to  find  fault  with  the  provisions  of  this 
constitution  on  that  subject. 

Mr.  Anderson  also  spoke  in  favor  of  the  resolution,  taking  the 
ground  that  the  people  of  the  State,  after  it  was  admitted,  had 
the  right  to  change  its  constitution  and  permit  slavery  without 
the  interference  of  congress. 

Gen.  Harrison  also  favored  the  adoption  of  the  resolution,  and 
remarked  that  as  one  of  those  who  was  opposed  to  the  further 
extension  of  slavery,  he  thought  the  restriction  was  satisfactory. 
Tallmadge  replied,  and  others  participated  in  the  debate,  the 
question  of  the  binding  force  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  prohibit- 
ing slavery,  entering  largely  into  the  discussion."' 

The  vote  upon  the  passage  of  the  resolution  when  finally 
reached  showed  a  favorable  majority  of  117  yeas  to  34  nays. 

The  first  constitution  of  Illinois  was,  in  its  principal  provi- 
sions, a  copy  of  the  then  existing  constitutions  of  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  and  Indiana.  The  bill  of  rights  is  almost  identically  the 
same  in  each,  with  the  exception  of  the  clauses  relating  to 
slavery.  Many  of  the  articles  are  exact  copies  in  wording 
although  differently  arranged  and  numbered.  As  will  be  seen 
by  reference  to  the  instrument,  provision  was  made  for  the 
election  by  the  people  of  the  following  officers  only:  governor, 
lieut.-governor,  sheriff,  coroner,  and  county  commissioners.  In 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  the  office  of  justice-of-the-peace  was  also 
elective.  The  secretary  of  state,  treasurer,  auditor  of  public 
accounts,  public  printer,  and  supreme  and  circuit-court  judges 
were  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor,  or  general  assembly. 

It  was  not  yet  deemed  advisable  to  place  too  much  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  people — they  were  not  even  permitted  to  have 

*  "Abridgment  of  the  Debates  of  Congress,"  VI,  205. 


THE   FIRST   CONSTITUTION.  285 

a  voice  in  the  adoption  of  their  fundamental  law,  no  provision 
being  made  for  the  submission  of  the  constitution  to  popular 
ratification  or  rejection.  Neither  were  the  constitutions  of 
Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana,  or  Tennessee,  nor  indeed,  subse- 
quently those  of  any  slave-state  submitted  to  the  people.  The 
first  constitution  thus  ratified  was  that  of  Maine  in  1820,  and 
the  precedent  thus  established  was  followed  by  Michigan  in 
1837,  Iowa  in  1845,  Wisconsin  in  1847,  and  indeed  by  all  the 
free-states  admitted  since  that  time. 

Instead  of  vesting  the  executive  with  the  veto  power  as  in 
Kentucky  and  Indiana,  the  governor,  and  the  judges  of  the 
supreme  court  were  constituted  what  was  termed  a  Council  of 
Revision,  with  authority  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of  the  laws 
as  they  were  enacted.  The  return  of  an  act  with  their  object- 
tions  rendered  necessary  its  reconsideration,  when  a  majority 
of  all  the  members  elected  was  required  again  to  pass  or 
approve  it. 

The  section  relating  to  imprisonment  for  debt,  providing  that 
when  there  was  not  strong  presumption  of  fraud,  the  person  of 
a  debtor  should  not  be  detained  in  prison  after  delivering  up 
his  estate  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors,  was  the  same  as  that 
in  the  constitutions  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and   Indiana. 

The  elective  franchise  was  granted  to  all  white  male  inhabi- 
tants, above  the  age  of  21  years,  who  had  resided  in  the  State 
six  months.  No  salaries  were  fixed  except  that  that  of  the 
governor  should  not  exceed  $1000,  nor  that  of  the  secretary 
of  state  $600,  prior  to  1824. 

The  most  objectionable  feature  of  the  instrument  was  the 
vesting  of  the  legislature  with  the  appointing  power.  As  origi- 
nally framed,  this  power  was  committed  to  the  executive,  but 
as  it  was  expected  that  Shadrach  Bond  would  be  elected  gov- 
ernor, and  that  he  would  not  appoint  a  particular  candidate  who 
had  secured  the  suffrages  of  the  members,  to  the  office  of  state 
auditor,  a  provision  was  inserted  in  the  schedule  that  "  an 
auditor  of  public-accounts,  an  attorney-general,  and  such  other 
officers  of  the  State  as  may  be  necessary,  may  be  appointed 
by  the  general  assembly."  At  first  the  legislature  limited  its 
exercise  of  this  power  to  the  appointment  of  the  above-desig- 
nated  officers,  the  governor   appointing   the  state's -attorneys, 


286 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


recorders,  and  other  officers  and  agents  provided  for  by  law; 
but  whenever  it  happened  that  the  governor  was  not  in  accord 
with  the  general  assembly,  it  would  deprive  him  of  his  patron- 
age. Thus  there  was  a  continual  liability  to  a  change  of 
powers,  which  produced  not  only  uncertainty  and  embarrass- 
ment, but  was  fruitful  of  intrigues  and  corrupt  combinations. 

The  defects  of  this  first  constitution,  are  even  more  clearly 
apparent  on  account  of  the  absence  of  necessary  limitations  and 
restrictions  of  the  legislature,  than  for  its  prodigal  grants  of 
power  to  that  department,  as  the  administration  of  the  state 
government  subsequently  proved. 

Such  was  the  first  constitution,  and  the  circumstances  and 
proceedings  under  which  the  sovereign  State  of  Illinois  was 
admitted  into  the  sovereign  Union  of  states,  on  Dec.  3,  18 18. 
It  was  the  eighth  new  state  added  to  the  old  thirteen,  and  had 
a  greater  area  than  any  other  state  then  in  the  Union  except- 
ing Georgia.* 

*  Table  showing  the  date  of  admission  of  new  states  into  the  Union,  from  what 
territory  acquired,  population,  and  area: 


NAME  OF  STATE. 

FROM  WHAT  TERRITORY. 

DATE  OF  ACT 
ADMITTING. 

POPULA- 
TION. 

SQUARE 
MILES. 

Kentucky, 

Virginia,            - 

Feb.  4,  1 791, 

73.677 

40,400 

Vermont, 

New  Hampshire  and  New  York, 

-     Feb.  18,  1791, 

85.425 

9.565 

Tennessee, 

North  Carolina,            ... 

June  1,  1796, 

67,000 

42,050 

Ohio, 

Northwest  Territory, 

-     April  30,  1S02, 

45.365 

4I,o6o 

Louisiana, 

French  Purchase,         - 

April  8,  1812, 

76,556 

48,720 

Indiana, 

Northwest  Territory, 

-     Dec.  11,  1816, 

63,897 

36,350 

Mississippi, 

South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  France, 

Dec.  10,  1817, 

70,000* 

46,810 

Illinois, 

Northwest  Territory, 

Dec.  3,  1818, 

34.620 

56,650 

Alabama, 

South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  France, 

Dee.  14,  1819, 

110,000* 

52.250 

Maine, 

Massachusetts  and  Great  Britain, 

-     March  3,  1820, 

298,269 

33,040 

M  issouri, 

French  Purchase,         - 

March  2,  1821, 

66,557 

69,415 

Arkansas, 

French  Purchase, 

-     June  15,  1836, 

52>24° 

53.850 

Michigan, 

Northwest  Territory, 

Jan.  26,  1837, 

70,000* 

58,915 

Texas, 

Annexed,                ... 

-     March  1,  1845, 

143,000 

268,780 

Iowa, 

French  Purchase,         - 

March  3,  1845, 

78,819 

56,025 

Florida, 

Spain,         .... 

-     Match  3,  1845, 

64,000* 

58,680 

Wisconsin, 

Northwest  Territory, 

March  3,  1847, 

180,000* 

56,040 

California, 

Mexico,                  ... 

-    Sept.  9,  1850, 

92,597 

158,360 

Minnesota, 

Northwest  Territory  and  France,  - 

May  4,  1858, 

120,000* 

83.365 

Oregon, 

Ceded  by  France, 

-     Feb.  14,  1859, 

50,000* 

96,030 

Kansas, 

Ceded  by  France  and  Texas, 

Jan.  29,  1861, 

107,206 

82,080 

West  Virginia, 

Virginia,    - 

-    Dec.  31,  1862, 

350,000 

24,780 

Nevada, 

Mexico,            .... 

March  11,  1864, 

40,000* 

1 10, 700 

N  ebraska, 

Ceded  by  France, 

-     Feb.  9,  1867, 

IOO,COO* 

76,855 

Colorado, 

France  and  Mexico, 

March  3,  1875,! 

100,000"' 

103,925 

As  will  be  seen,  up  to  1850,  with  the  exception  of  the  compromise  state  of  Mis- 
souri, the  states  were  admitted  in  the  order  of  first  a  slave-state  and  then  a  free-state. 
*  Estimated.  1  Took  effect  Aug.  1,  1876. 


CHAPTER   XX. 


First  State-Election— Gov.  Bond— First  General  Assem- 
bly—  Officers — Laws — Election  of  United-States  Sen- 
ators—  Congressional  Election — Cook  vs.  McLean — 
Removal  of  the  Capital. 


T 


HE  first  election  for  State -officers,  and  members  of  the 
general  assembly  under  the  constitution  of  1818,  was 
held  on  the  third  Thursday  (17),  and  the  two  following  days  in 
September.  The  mode  of  voting  was  by  ballot,  which  was 
continued  until  1829,  when  a  return  to  the  viva-voce  method 
was  determined  upon. 

Shadrach  Bond  was  elected  the  first  governor  of  the  State  by 
a  practically  unanimous  vote.  He  came  to  the  Territory  from 
Maryland  in  1794,  having  barely  passed  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
and  resided  at  first  with  his  uncle,  of  the  same  name,  on  the 
American  Bottom,  in  what  is  now  Monroe  County.  He  was 
raised  a  farmer,  and  so  continued.  He  received  only  a  common- 
school  education.  His  hand-writing  was  poor,  and  his  acquain- 
tance with  the  spelling-book  was  not  intimate;  yet  in  the  school 
of  experience,  and  of  every-day  intercourse  with  his  fellow-men, 
he  acquired  a  large  stock  of  useful  knowledge  and  practical  in- 
formation, which  was  of  even  greater  value  to  a  public  man  in 
those  early  days  than  the  learning  to  be  derived  from  schools.. 
His  person  was  erect,  compact,  and  formed  with  perfect  sym- 
metry; his  bearing  was  noble,  dignified,  and  commanding.  His 
complexion  was  dark,  and  his  hair  a  glossy  jet-black.  He  had 
a  high  forehead,  indicating  a  large  brain,  and  a  countenance 
expressing  rare  intelligence.  He  was  a  great  admirer  of  and 
favorite  with  the  ladies;  "yet"  says  Gov.  Reynolds,  "his  gallant- 
ries, though  many,  were  always  circumscribed  with  propriety" — 
a  remark  which  can  not  be  truthfully  repeated  of  all  his 
successors  in  the  executive  chair.  He  kept  his  horses  and  his 
hounds,  and  was  fond  of  racing  and  hunting.  Being  of  a  jovial 
and  convivial  spirit,  in  society  as  in  public  life,  he  was  person- 
ally agreeable  and  popular.     He  was  decided  in  his  opinions 

287 


288  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

and  faithful  to  his  friends  and  allies.  He  participated  promi- 
nently in  the  political  controversies  of  his  day,  one  of  which 
resulted  in  the  sending  and  accepting  of  a  challenge  to  fight 
a  duel  with  Rice  Jones.  After  the  parties  had  taken  their 
position  in  the  field,  the  pistol  of  Jones,  a  hair-trigger,  was  acci- 
dentally discharged.  Bond's  second  promptly  declared  it  a  fire, 
and  insisted  upon  the  right  of  his  principal  to  return  it.  But 
Bond,  with  characteristic  magnanimity,  at  once  exclaimed  "it 
was  an  accident,"  and  refused  to  take  advantage  of  a  purely 
technical  right,  even  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  declaring  that 
Jones  was  entitled  to  the  stipulated  shot.  This  magnanimity 
on  the  part  of  Bond  led  to  an  honorable  adjustment  of  the 
quarrel.* 

Gov.  Bond  had  been  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislatures 
of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  a  captain  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  was 
the  first  delegate  elected  to  Congress  from  Illinois  Territory, 
taking  his  seat  Dec.  3,  18 12.  The  latter  position  he  resigned  in 
1 8 14,  to  accept  the  appointment  of  receiver  of  public  moneys; 
when  he  removed  from  his  farm  in  St.  Clair  (now  Monroe) 
County  to  another  just  west  of  Kaskaskia,  on  which,  in  sight  of 
that  ancient  village,  he  erected  a  large,  and  as  was  thought  at 
that  time,  palatial  brick-residence,  where  he  spent  the  remain- 
ing years  of  his  life. 

In  congress,  he  faithfully  represented  the  interests  of  his  con- 
stituents, securing  the  passage  not  only  of  the  law  providing 
for  raising  and  equipping  three  companies  of  rangers  for  the 
protection  of  the  infant  settlements,  but  also  of  that  important 
and  popular  measure  known  as  the  preemption  law  of  18 13. 

In  1 8 16,  upon  the  election  of  Nathaniel  Pope  to  congress,  Col. 
Bond  was  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  territorial  secretary,  and 
requested  the  support  of  Gov.  Edwards,  which  was  refused;  and 
from  this  time  the  antagonism  between  these  distinguished 
officials   marked   more  plainly  the  dividing  line  between  their 

*  Unfortunately,  however,  the  affair  was  not  destined  to  be  without  bloodshed. 
The  bad  feeling  engendered  between  Bond's  second — James  Dunlap,  and  Jones,  a 
short  time  after,  resulted  in  the  assassination  of  the  latter  by  Dunlap  in  a  public 
street  of  Kaskaskia.  The  killing  is  characterized  by  Gov.  Reynolds  as  having  been 
unprovoked  and  cowardly — Dunlap  firing  at  his  victim  from  behind.  The  mur- 
derer escaped  the  vengeance  of  the  indignant  citizens  by  flight  to  Texas,  and  was 
never  brought  to  justice. 


From  the  Chicago  Historical  Society's  Portrait. 


Chicago  Photo-Cravure  Co. 


Oct.  7,  //66. — June  ij,  1844. 


PIERRE   MENARD.  289 

respective  adherents.  At  this  first  election,  however,  it  seems 
that  a  truce  had  been  agreed  upon  between  the  warring  fac- 
tions, by  the  terms  of  which  Bond  was  to  be  elected  governor 
and  Edwards  United-States  senator. 

The  governor  was  fortunate  in  his  appointment  of  Elias  Kent 
Kane  as  secretary  of  state,  of  whose  able  assistance  he  freely 
availed  himself  in  the  preparation  of  his  state-papers. 

Pierre  Menard,  the  lieutenant-governor  elect,  was  born  at  St. 
Antoine,  thirty-five  miles  from  Montreal,  October  7,  1766,  and 
came  to  Kaskaskia,  from  Vincennes,  in  1790,  where  he  engaged 
in  business  as  a  merchant.  He  soon  became  active  in  public 
affairs,  however,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  territorial 
legislature  of  Indiana.  He  was  president  of  the  council  of  the 
territorial  general  assembly  of  Illinois  during  the  entire  period 
of  its  existence.  His  height  was  below  the  average,  his  manners 
quick  and  abrupt,  his  temperament  nervous,  and  his  nature 
kind-hearted,  though  impulsive.  He  seemed  to  know  instinc- 
tively how  to  manage  the  Indians,  over  whom  he  wielded  great 
influence.  As  a  government  agent  his  popularity  was  equalled 
only  by  his  success  in  negotiating  important  treaties.  He  was 
the  most  distinguished  of  those  French  emigrants  who  came  to 
Illinois  during  and  after  the  Revolution,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  enterprising,  patriotic,  and  intelligent — a  very  different 
class  from  those  who  had  preceded  them,  to  whom  they  were 
far  superior. 

His  command  of  the  English  language  was  limited  and  his 
speeches  though  pointed  were  of  the  shortest.  But  he  had  a 
sound  judgment,  and  comprehensive  mind.* 

His  hospitality  was  boundless,  embracing  every  comer,  white 
or  red.  Unlike  the  class  of  merchants  described  by  Burke — 
"their  counting-house  is  their  church,  their  desk  is  their  altar, 
their  ledger  is  their  bible,  and  their  money  is  their  God,"  his 
heart  went  out  to  the  care  of  his  slaves,  and  the  suffering  poor 
around  him.     At  one  time  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of  salt  in 

*  When  the  proposition  came  up  in  the  senate  to  memoralize  the  treasurer  of  the 
United  States  to  receive  the  bills  of  the  Bank  of  Edwardsville  in  payment  for  lands, 
believing  it  to  be  iniquitous,  he  refused  to  put  the  question.  Upon  being  shown 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  put  it  to  vote,  he  said,  "(Jentlemen,  if  I  mus',  I  mus'.  You 
who  are  in  favor  of  dis  resolution,  will  say  aye;  but  I  bet  you  one  thousand  dollar 
congre  never  make  him  land-office  money;  you  who  are  opposed,  will  say  no." 

19 


290  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

the  country,  and  Menard  held  the  only  supply  outside  of  St. 
Louis.  A  number  of  his  neighbors  called  upon  him  to  engage 
what  they  wanted;  he  declined  to  let  them  know  whether  he 
could  supply  them  or  not,  but  told  them  to  come  to  his  store 
on  a  certain  day,  when  he  would  inform  them.  They  came 
at  the  appointed  time,  and  were  seated;  Menard  passed  around 
among  them,  and  inquired  of  each  one,  "You  got  money?" 
Some  said  they  had,  and  some  that  they  had  not,  but  would 
pay  as  soon  as  they  killed  their  hogs.  Those  who  had  money 
he  directed  to  range  themselves  on  one  side  of  the  room,  and 
those  who  had  none  on  the  other.  Of  course  those  who  had 
the  means  expected  to  get  the  salt,  and  the  others  looked  very 
much  distressed  and  crestfallen.  Menard  then  spoke  up  in  his 
brusque  way,  and  said,  "You  men  who  got  de  money,  can  go 
to  St.  Louis  for  your  salt.  Dese  poor  men,  who  got  no  money 
shall  have  my  salt,  by  gar."*  Such  was  the  man — noble-hearted, 
and  large  minded,  if  unpolished  and  uncouth,  who  was  now  to 
preside  over  the  first  State  senate.*f" 

In  the  apparently  complex  system  of  the  distribution  and 
correlation  of  powers  between  the  federal  and  state  governments 
of  this  country,  while  the  prosperity  of  the  Nation  largely  rests 
upon  the  administration  of  its  affairs  in  relation  to  foreign 
governments,  the  raising  of  revenue,  its  coinage  and  currency 
laws,  and  the  management  of  its  war,  naval  and  interior  depart- 
ments by  congress;  so  also  does  the  growth  and  progress  of  a 
state  depend  very  much  upon  the  character  of  the  legislation 
framed,  within  constitutional  limitations,  under  which  the 
administration  of  its  domestic  affairs  is  conducted.  A  wide  field 
is  here  opened  for  the  adoption  of  such  measures  of  internal 
policy  as  are  best  calculated  to  develope  its  resources,  amelior- 

*  Joseph  Gillespie,  in  "Fergus'  Historical  Series,"  No.  13. 

+  He  retired  from  public  life  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  and  died  at 
Kaskaskia,  June  I >  1S44.  He  left  a  large  estate;  and  among  his  papers  were  found 
many  notes  of  his  friends  upon  which  his  name  appeared  as  endorser,  and  which  he 
had  paid.  He  also  left  a  large  number  of  uncollectable  accounts  due  from  those  to 
whom  he  had  too  trustingly  parted  with  his  goods.  The  county  of  Menard  was 
named  after  him;  and  a  monument  to  his  memory — the  generous  and  munificent  gift 
of  Charles  Pierre  Chouteau  of  St.  Louis,  whose  father  was  formerly  Menard's  partner 
in  business — has  been  erected  at  the  east  front  of  the  capitol,  in  the  grounds  of  the 
State-house  at  Springfield. 


FIRST   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  29 1 

ate  the  condition  of  the  people,  and  improve  their  industries; 
in  which  field,  untried  legislators,  and  embryo  statesmen,  may 
and  do  often  venture  upon  the  passage  of  ill-advised  laws,  which 
retard  rather  than  advance  the  highest  interests  of  the  common- 
wealth. Instances  of  this  kind,  as  will  be  seen,  have  frequently 
occurred  in  the  history  of  this  State,  which  have  seriously  im- 
peded its  growth,  and  hindered  the -welfare  of  the  people. 

The  first  general  assembly  of  the  State,  composed  of  thirteen 
senators  and  twenty-seven  representatives,  convened  at  Kaskas- 
kia,  Oct.  5,  1818.  The  State-house  in  which  the  body  assembled, 
and  which  had  been  previously  occupied  by  the  territorial 
legislature,  was  built  of  limestone,  surmounted  by  a  gambrel-roof 
of  unpainted  boards  and  shingles,  in  which  were  placed  dormer- 
windows.  The  lower  floor  was  fitted  up  for  the  house,  and  the 
chamber  above  for  the  senate.  Only  two  of  those  who  had 
served  in  the  territorial  legislature  were  honored  with  seats  in 
this,  namely,  Willis  Hargrave  in  the  senate,  and  Risdon  Moore 
in  the  house.  Five  senators  and  an  equal  number  of  represen- 
tatives had  been  members  of  the  recent  constitutional  conven- 
tion. The  house  was  organized  by  the  election  of  John  Mes- 
senger, speaker,  and  Thomas  Reynolds,  clerk.  Messenger  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  and  had  become  a  resident  of  Illinois 
in  1802.  His  occupation  was  that  of  a  surveyor,  in  which 
capacity  he  was  known  and  distinguished  throughout  the 
country.  He  was  a  cartographer  of  no  mean  pretentions,  as  is 
shown  by  his  map  of  Illinois.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the 
constitutional  convention,  where  he  displayed  marked  ability  as 
a  politician.  His  preference,  however,  was  for  the  chain  and 
compass,  and  the  more  attractive  home -life  on  his  farm,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death  in  1846. 

Thomas  Reynolds,  a  younger  brother  of  Gov.  John  Reynolds, 
was  an  active  politician  in  this  State  until  1828,  when  he 
removed  to  Missouri,  of  which  commonwealth  he  was  elected 
governor  in  1840.  William  C.  Greenup  was  elected  secretary 
of  the  senate. 

The  governor's  first  message  to  the  general  assembly  was  a 
modest,  brief,  and  clearly-written  document.  After  acknow- 
ledging his  obligations  to  the  people  for  their  confidence  and 
support,  he  referred  to  the  depleted  condition  of  the  treasury, 


292  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  the  necessity  of  providing  means  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
the  State  government.  He  recommended  a  revision  of  the  laws, 
and  called  attention  to  the  subject  of  education,  remarking, 
that  "it  is  our  imperious  duty,  for  the  faithful  performance  of 
which  we  are  amenable  to  God  and  our  country,  to  watch  over 
this  interesting  subject."  He  advised  that  provision  for  the 
leasing  of  the  salt-springs  should  be  made;  and  urged  upon  the 
attention  of  the  legislature  the  importance  of  a  canal  to  con- 
nect Lake  Michigan  with  the  Illinois  River.  His  message 
devoutly  closed  as  follows:  "and  may  that  almighty  Being  from 
whose  goodness  and  bounty  all  the  blessings  we  enjoy  have 
emanated,  be  present  in  your  councils,  and  bless  the  measures 
of  your  adoption." 

After  the  delivery  of  the  governor's  inaugural  the  general 
assembly  at  once  proceeded  to  elect  two  United-States  senators, 
and  the  remaining  State-officers,  and  judges  of  the  supreme 
court,  the  latter  to  serve  also  as  circuit-judges.  The  two  sena- 
tors elected  were:  Ninian  Edwards  on  the  first  ballot,  receiving 
thirty-two  votes,  and  Judge  Jesse  Burgess  Thomas  on  the  third 
ballot,  receiving  twenty-one  votes,  to  eighteen  for  Leonard 
White  and  one  for  Michael  Jones;  John  Thomas  was  elected 
State-treasurer;  Elijah  C.  Berry,  auditor  of  public  accounts; 
Daniel  P.  Cook,  attorney-general;  Joseph  Phillips,  chief-justice 
of  the  supreme  court;  and  Thomas  C.  Browne,  William  P. 
Foster,  and  John  Reynolds,  associate-justices. 

Elias  Kent  Kane,  having  been  appointed  by  the  governor, 
was  confirmed  as  secretary  of  state;  and  the  firm  of  Blackwell 
&  Berry  was  elected  public  printers. 

Jesse  B.  Thomas,  one  of  the  senators  elect,  had  been  a 
prominent  figure  in  Illinois  from  the  time  of  its  territorial 
organization.  He  was  born  in  Hagerstown,  Md.,  in  1777, 
and  claimed  direct  lineage  from  Lord  Baltimore.  He  located 
in  Lawrenceburgh  in  1803,  and  in  1805  was  elected  to  the 
Indiana  territorial  legislature,  of  which  he  was  chosen  speaker. 
Having  been  elected  to  congress  on  the  issue  of  a  division 
of  Indiana  Territory,  as  heretofore  related,  upon  the  organi- 
zation of  the  territory  of  Illinois  he  removed  to  Kaskaskia. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention,  over  which 
he   presided.      He  was   finely  proportioned    physically,   being 


JUSTICES   OF   THE   SUPREME   COURT.  293 

in  stature  fully  six  feet,  with  a  florid-brown  complexion,  dark- 
hazel  eyes,  and  dark -brown  hair.  He  was  not  regarded  as 
a  great  lawyer,  and  made  no  pretentions  as  a  public  speaker — 
acting  rather  upon  one  of  his  proverbs,  that  "you  could  not  talk 
a  man  down,  but  you  could  whisper  him  to  death."  But  he 
more  than  compensated  for  these  deficiencies  by  his  dignified 
bearing,  his  agreeable  address,  and  refined  manners.*  He  was 
the  author  of  the  celebrated  Missouri  compromise  of  1820,  and 
was  instrumental  in  securing  its  adoption. 

Judge  Phillips,  elected  chief-justice,  had  been  a  captain  in 
the  regular  army,  and  secretary  of  the  Territory.  He  was  a 
good  lawyer  and  an  able  man. 

John  Reynolds  for  the  first  time  made  his  appearance  in  the 
political  arena  at  this  session.  He  visited  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, as  he  remarks,  at  the  solicitation  of  friends,  out  of  mere 
curiosity;  and  the  proposition  to  elect  him  one  of  the  supreme- 
judges  "broke  upon  him  like  a  clap  of  thunder.'j  But  the  taste 
for  public  life  which  this  office  created,  remained  with  him  ever 
after. 

Thomas  C.  Browne,  another  of  the  justices  of  the  supreme 
court  elected,  became  a  resident  of  the  State  at  Shawneetown 
in  1 8 12,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature, 
and  also  prosecuting  attorney. 

The  career  of  Foster,  another  of  the  judges  elect,  affords  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  possible  success  of  a  polished  but 
unscrupulous  adventurer,  in  a  new  country.  An  entire  stranger 
in  the  Territory,  a  lawyer  by  neither  profession  nor  practice,  in 
a  few  weeks,  through  his  plausible  address  and  skilful  manipu- 
lations of  credulous  members,  he  succeeded  in  capturing  one  of 
the  highest  judicial  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  legislature.  He 
never  took  his  seat  upon  the  bench,  and  after  drawing  a  year's 
salary  for  services  not  rendered,  he  left  the  State.  His  sub- 
sequent career  was  that  of  an  accomplished  swindler  who 
traveled  from  city  to  city,  numbering  his  victims  by  the  score. 
Foster  was  succeeded  by  William  Wilson,  then  a  talented  young 
lawyer,  who  worthily  occupied  the  bench  for  many  years. 

The  interest  in  the  first  election  under  the  constitution  cen- 

*  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  2d  ed.,  402. 
t  "My  Own  Times,"  35,  2d  edition. 


294  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

tered  in  the  race  for  congress,  although  the  term  of  the  office 
would  expire  on  the  third  of  March,  following.  The  candidates 
were  John  McLean  of  Shavvneetown,  and  Daniel  Pope  Cook  of 
Kaskaskia.  They  were  both  lawyers,  young,  talented,  and 
ambitious,  having  immigrated  to  the  Territory  the  same  year, 
18 1 5,  and  attached  themselves  to  rival  political  factions.  Mc 
Lean  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1791,  and  raised  in  Ken- 
tucky. He  belonged  to  the  family  of  Ewing,  which  has  pro- 
duced so  many  distinguished  men.  Cook  was  born  in  Kentucky 
in  1794.  He  was  a  member  of  the  influential  Pope  family  of 
that  State,  being  a  nephew  of  Nathaniel  Pope,  the  first  secretary 
of  Illinois  Territory.  He  entered  successfully  into  the  practice 
of  the  law,  attending  the  courts  in  nearly  all  the  organized 
counties.  In  18 16,  he  combined  with  his  practice  a  part  owner- 
ship and  management  of  the  Illinois  Intelligencer,  the  first,  and 
at  that  time,  the  only  newspaper  in  the  Territory.  His  rise  in 
public  life  was  unexampled;  he  was  elected  clerk  of  the  second 
and  third  territorial  houses  of  representatives;  auditor  of  public 
accounts  from  January,  18 16  to  April,  18 17;  appointed  circuit- 
judge  in  1818,  and  then  attorney-general.  He  found  time  also 
to  discharge  the  responsible  duties  of  a  bearer  of  dispatches  to 
our  minister  at  the  British  court,  where  he  made  the  acquain- 
tance of  John  Quincy  Adams,  with  whom  his  relations  were 
ever  afterward  intimate.  The  Missouri  question  was  then  the 
absorbing  subject  of  discussion  and  agitation  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other.  The  admission  of  that  Territory  as  a 
slave-state  would  have  a  serious  if  not  controlling  influence 
upon  the  question  whether  Illinois  should  not  also  adopt  the 
same  policy.  McLean  was  on  the  side  of  slavery,  and  Cook  on 
that  of  freedom.  Both  being  singularly  well-equipped  by  study, 
experience,  and  inclination,  for  public  debate,  and  each  of  them 
feeling  confident  in  the  justice  of  his  respective  side,  joint 
discussions  were  held  by  them  in  all  the  principal  counties. 
Hon.  Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  who  heard  these,  as  also,  many 
years  afterward,  the  debates  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas, 
involving  the  same  questions,  "awarded  the  palm"  for  oratory 
and  interest  to  the  former.  McLean,  though  of  lighter  com- 
plexion, was  said  to  resemble  the  great  Charles  Fox  in  person, 
and  in  his  style  of  oratory.     Cook  on  the  other  hand  was  small 


COOK   VS.    MCLEAN.  295 

in  stature,  and  of  delicate  physique,  being  an  exception  to 
the  rule  in  those  early  days  that  a  public  man  to  be  suc- 
cessful must  have  an  imposing  and  prepossessing  personal 
appearance.  But  Cook  held  his  rare  gift  of  eloquence  well  in 
hand;  and  with  clearness  of  thought,  boldness  of  expression, 
and  intensity  of  purpose,  made  an  impression  upon  an  audience 
at  once  deep  and  lasting.  So  sincere  and  defiant  was  his 
advocacy  of  liberty  for  all,  slavery  for  none,  among  those  whose 
prejudices  were  on   the  side  of  "the  peculiar  institution,"  that 

his  opponents  gave  him   the  nick-name  of  "that  d d   little 

Yankee."  His  habits  were  abstemious,  his  manners  charming, 
his  voice  strong  and  melodious. 

The  contest  in  18 18  resulted  in  the  success  of  McLean  by 
the  small  majority  of  fourteen.  The  following  year,  when  the 
same  race  was  repeated,  with  added  interest  and  excitement, 
Cook  was  successful  by  a  majority  of  633  —  the  poll  standing 
in  the  nineteen  counties,  for  Cook  2192,  McLean  1559. 

Further  than  the  election  of  officers,  the  general  assembly  did 
not  propose  to  proceed  until  the  result  of  the  application  to 
congress  for  the  admission  of  the  State  had  been  ascertained; 
and  after  a  session  of  eight  days  the  body  adjourned  to  meet 
the  following  January.  As  has  already  been  seen,  this  applica- 
tion was  successful  and  Illinois  assumed  its  position  as  the 
twenty-first  state  in  the  sisterhood  of  the  "United  States  of 
America." 

At  the  reassembling  of  the  legislature,  January  4,  18 19,  law- 
making began  in  earnest.  A  code  was  adopted  which  for  the 
most  part  was  copied  from  the  statutes  of  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky, including  the  law  concerning  "negroes  and  mulattoes" 
so  long  continued  on  the  statute  books  of  this  State.  Mr. 
Kane,  who  in  addition  to  his  duties  as  secretary  of  state, 
acted  as  clerk  of  the  judiciary  committee,  was  the  compiler  of 
the  greater  portion  of  these  laws,  in  the  performance  of  which 
task  he  manifested  great  care  and  intelligence.  This  code,  how- 
ever, in  its  entirety,  had  but  a  very  short  and  feeble  existence. 
Its  provisions  were  altered  by  each  succeeding  general  assembly 
with  a  regularity  and  persistency  wonderful  to  behold.  A 
session  of  the  legislature  was  like  a  great  fire  in  the  bound- 
less prairie:  it  consumed  everything.     But  it  was  also  like  the 


296  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

genial  breath  of  spring,  making  all  things  new.*  This  insatiate 
desire  to  tinker  the  laws  became,  so  to  speak,  an  epidemic,  the 
ravages  of  which  were  not  checked  until  the  winter  of  1826-7, 
when  the  revised  code,  framed  by  the  justices  of  the  supreme 
court  was  adopted. 

This  was  the  longest  session  of  the  general  assembly  held 
prior  to  that  of  the  eighth  in  1832.  The  revenue  law  enacted 
provided  for  the  raising  of  money  for  State  purposes  by  taxing 
the  lands  of  non-residents,  which  were  divided  into  three  classes, 
whose  respective  values  were  fixed  in  the  act  at  two,  three,  and 
four  dollars  per  acre.  County  revenue  was  to  be  derived  from 
taxation  of  personal  property  and  real  estate  of  residents. 

The  salaries  of  State-officers  were  fixed  as  follows:  governor 
$1000,  judges  the  same,  state  auditor  $700,  secretary  of  state 
$600,  State  treasurer  $500,  attorney-general  $250,  circuit-attor- 
neys $150,  adjutant-general  $100. 

The  penalties  affixed  to  specified  offenses  by  the  code  of  the 
territory  were  all  reenacted,  including  those  of  whipping,  con- 
finement in  the  stocks  and  pillories,  as  well  as  that  of  death  by 
hanging,  for  the  crimes  of  rape,  arson,  horse -stealing,  and 
murder. 

Not  the  least  important  of  the  acts  passed  was  that  providing 
for  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government.  It  does  not  appear 
that  there  was  any  popular  demand  for  such  a  measure.  The 
movement  grew  out  of  the  mania  for  speculation,  then  so  rife, 
by  which  the  members  of  a  certain  coterie  hoped  to  realize  great 
fortunes.  Kaskaskia,  the  leading  commercial  town  of  the  State, 
and  the  most  populous,  as  well  as  the  most  readily  accessible 
by  steam  navigation  and  post-roads,  might  have  remained  the 
capital  had  it  not  been  that  some  of  its  most  influential  citizens 
had  become  interested  in  a  project  for  making  money  out  of  the 
choice  of  a  new  location.  The  scheme  first  showed  its  head  in 
the  constitutional  convention,  by  the  adoption  of  an  article  as 
far-reaching  in  its  scope  as  it  was  harmless  on  its  face,  which 
provided  that  the  seat  of  government  should  remain  at  Kas- 
kaskia until  the  general  assembly  should  otherwise  determine; 
and  that  that  body  at  its  first  session  should  petition  congress 
for  a  grant  to  the  State  of  four  sections  of  land  for  the  seat 

*  Ford's  "  History  of  Illinois,"  32. 


REMOVAL   OF   THE   CAPITAL.  297 

of  government,  and  if  the  prayer  was  granted  a  town  should 
be  laid  out  thereon  which  should  remain  the  capital  for  the 
period  of  twenty  years.  Under  this  provision,  the  legislature  at 
its  first  session  adopted  the  petition  as  directed,  which  was  duly 
presented  to  congress  and  upon  which  favorable  action  was 
secured  by  the  new  senators  on  March  3,  18 19,  by  the  passage 
of  an  act  granting  the  four  sections  of  land  as  requested. 

At  this  second  session,  five  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
make  the  selection  of  land,  to  lay  out  the  town,  and  erect  a  tem- 
porary two-story  building  for  a  State-house.  They  were  limited 
in  their  choice  of  a  location  to  the  Kaskaskia  River  and  "  as 
near  as  might  be  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian  on  that 
river."  The  place  selected  was  known  as  "Reeve's  Bluff,"  a 
high,  heavily-timbered  tract,  beautifully  situated  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river.  It  was  eighty-two  miles  northeast  of  Kas- 
kaskia, fifty-seven  miles  nearly  due  east  of  Alton,  and  twenty 
miles  north  of  any  settlement — the  county  of  Fayette  not  having 
been  established  until  February,  182 1. 

There  are  two  accounts  of  the  origin  of  the  name  given  to  the 
prospective  capital,  which  are  substantially  the  same.  The 
commissioners  were  anxious  to  fix  upon  a  cognomen  which 
should  be  at  once  euphonious  and  historic — their  preference 
being  for  one  which  would  not  only  please  the  ear  but  perpetu- 
ate the  memory  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants.  A  wag  who  was 
present  gravely  suggested  that  the  Vandals  had  once  been  a 
powerful  tribe  of  red  men  living  on  the  Kaskaskia,  and  that 
Vandalia  a  word  derived  from  their  name  would  preserve  the 
memory  of  that  once  renowned,  but  now  extinct  race.  The 
commissioners  were  delighted  with  the  suggestion,  which  was 
adopted  without  a  dissenting  voice.*  However  this  may  be, 
it  was  symbolically  appropriate  in  one  respect  at  least,  as  those 
who  laid  out  the  town  suffered  not  a  single  one  of  the  many 
noble  forest  trees  which  covered  its  site  to  remain  standing  to 
adorn  its  public-square  and  streets. 

The  selection  of  a  town -site  for  a  capital  from  the  lands  of 
the  government,  without  in  the  least  regarding  their  interests, 
proved  a  death  blow  to  the  speculators,  and  a  sad  disappoint- 
ment to  those  citizens  of  Kaskaskia  who  had  favored  a  change. 

*  Ford's  "History  of  Illinois,"  35. 


298  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

But  the  location  having  been  irrevocably  fixed,  the  next  best 
thing  that  offered  in  the  way  of  speculation  was  to  "boom"  the 
town-lots.  Of  these,  the  number  to  be  sold  by  the  commission- 
ers was  limited  to  one  hundred  and  fifty.  So  great  was  the 
anxiety  thus  created  to  secure  a  foothold  in  a  city  which 
everyone  regarded  as  destined  to  become  a  centre  of  commerce 
and  influence,  that  the  prices  realized  for  lots  were  simply 
astounding.  The  lowest  price  bid  was  $100,  while  for  more 
elegible  locations  in  this  wilderness,  as  high  as  $780  was  willingly 
agreed  to  be  paid — the  average  price  being  $234,  and  the 
aggregate  proceeds  reaching  the  sum  of  $35,234.  Sales  were 
made  on  time,  and  as  might  have  been  foreseen,  many  pur- 
chasers failed  to  meet  their  contracts,  and  the  property  thus 
forfeited  was  subsequently  sold  for  about  one-tenth  of  the  price 
originally  agreed  upon. 

As  required  by  law,  the  commissioners  proceeded  to  erect 
a  temporary  building  to  be  used  as  a  State-house;  it  was  a 
two-story  frame  of  the  plainest  description  of  architecture.  To 
this  humble  structure,  which  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  forest,  the 
State  officers  removed  in  December,  1820.  The  archives  of  the 
State,  in  the  care  of  Sidney  Breese,  making  in  all  one  small 
wagon-load,  were  transported  at  a  cost  of  $25.  It  was  indeed 
a  pioneer  trip,  and  the  roadway  had  frequently  to  be  cut 
through  dense  forests  before  the  new  capital  was  reached. 

To  return  to  the  proceedings  of  the  first  general  assembly: 
in  the  legal  lottery  between  the  two  recently-elected  United- 
States  senators,  Gov.  Edwards  had  drawn  the  short  term,  which 
would  expire  March  3,  18 19;  and  it  therefore  became  necessary 
to  elect  his  successor.  He  had  hardly  taken  his  seat  in  Wash- 
ington before  his  opponents  began  to  intrigue  against  his  reelec- 
tion. One  of  the  schemes  to  accomplish  this  result,  was  a 
proposition  to  divide  the  State  into  two  senatorial  districts, 
which  was  only  defeated  in  the  house  by  a  majority  of  three. 
Michael  Jones,  then  a  senator  from  Gallatin  County,  was  the 
opposing  candidate.  He  was  from  Pennsylvania,  and  had  been 
a  very  active  member  of  the  anti-Edwards  party  ever  since  his 
incumbency  of  the  registry  of  the  land-office  in  1812-15.  He 
was  a  man  of  no  mean  ability,  of  good  address,  but  having  a 
violent  temper,  which  he  was  not  at  all  backward  in  showing 


EDWARDS   REELECTED    TO   T*HE   SENATE.  299 

as  occasion  might  require.  All  the  hostility  to  the  ex-governor 
which  his  ten  years  of  public  service  had  engendered  was 
developed  in  Jones'  favor.  Edwards  had  been  led  to  suppose 
that  Gov.  Bond  would  remain  his  friend  and  supporter;  what 
was  his  surprise,  then,  when  he  received  a  letter  from  him  in 
which,  incidentally  referring  to  the  pending  senatorial  election, 
doubtless  intended  to  prepare  him  for  news  of  his  defeat,  he 
read  as  follows:  "it  has  been  stated  by  some  that  you  are  willing 
to  serve  again.  Col.  Jones  is  also  a  candidate.  I  can  not  say 
who  will  be  elected,  for  there  is  considerable  division  among 
the  members."*  The  senator  might  well  have  exclaimed,  "call 
you  this  backing  your  friends?" 

The  Edwards  men  after  a  careful  canvass  confidently  reck- 
oned on  his  receiving  at  least  twenty-six  votes,  but  when  the 
ballots  were  counted  at  the  joint  session  on  February  8,  it  was 
found  that  he  had  received  only  twenty-three,  to  nineteen  for 
his  opponent — leaving  but  a  small  margin  in  his  favor. 

The  second  session  of  the  first  general  assembly  adjourned 
March  31,  after  sitting  eighty-seven  days. 

*  "Edwards  Papers,"  153. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

The   Second   General   Assembly — State   Bank — Synopsis 
of  Laws — Resources  and  Expenditures. 

DURING  the  two  years  which  elapsed  between  the  admission 
of  the  State  and  the  meeting  of  the  second  general 
assembly  at  Vandalia,  December  4,  1820,  the  expectations  of 
the  advocates  of  a  state  government  had  been  fully  realized. 
The  population  had  increased  from  the  more  than  doubtful 
40,000  reported  by  the  census-takers  to  the  unquestionable 
number  of  55,120.  Four  new  counties  had  been  organized, 
namely:  Alexander,  Clark,  Jefferson,  and  Wayne.  New  towns 
had  been  laid  out,  and  settlements  commenced  as  far  north  as 
Greene  County,  and  were  rapidly  extending. 

With  the  exception  of  the  hold-over  senators,  the  second 
general  assembly  was  composed  almost  entirely  of  new  material, 
only  three  members  of  the  last  house  being  reelected,  namely, 
Samuel  McClintock,  Risdon  Moore,  and  Alex.  Phillips,  besides 
Conrad  Will,  of  the  last  senate.  John  McLean  from  Gallatin, 
was  elected  speaker,  and  Thomas  Reynolds,  clerk.  James 
Turner  was  chosen  secretary  of  the  senate. 

The  message  of  the  governor  was  as  unpretentious  and  brief 
as  had  been  his  inaugural  address.  He  recommended  the 
adoption  of  a  liberal  policy  in  regard  to  the  improvement  of  the 
capital,  and  the  erection  of  suitable  public  buildings,  among 
which  he  included  a  "seminary  of  learning."  This  institution 
he  naively  argued  ought  to  be  at  the  seat  of  government, 
"because  by  an  occasional  visit  at  the  houses  of  the  general 
assembly,  and  the  courts  of  justice,  the  student  will  find  the 
best  specimens  of  oratory  the  State  can  produce;  imbibe  the 
principles  of  legal  science,  and  political  knowledge,  and  by  an 
intercourse  with  good  society  his  habits  of  life  would  be  chast- 
ened, and  his  manners  improved."  He  referred  to  the  fact  of 
the  extinguishment  of  the  debt  of  the  territorial  government, 
and  called  attention  to  the  scarcely  less  gratifying  circumstance 
that  the  State  treasury  was  in  a  healthy  condition.     He  recom- 

300 


THE   STATE   BANKING-LAW.  301 

mended  a  revision  of  the  laws  against  gaming,  and  as  if  incited 
to  an  unusual  glow  at  the  moral  aspect  of  the  discussion,  and 
with  a  reverence,  even  greater  than  that  shown  in  his  first 
message,  closed  as  follows:  "may  the  Almighty  God,  to  whose 
kind  providence  we  are  indebted  for  the  safe  and  tranquil  con- 
dition of  our  common  country,  and  the  plentiful  harvest  of  the 
year,  teach  us  to  distrust  ourselves,  and  to  rely  firmly  upon  Him, 
that  we  may  live  to  His  glory,  and  die  in  His  love." 

The  most  exciting  subject  of  discussion  at  this  session  was 
the  law  to  incorporate  a  State  bank.  The  times  were  hard. 
Over-trading  and  speculation  induced  by  the  too-abundant  issue 
of  paper  currency  by  the  banks  of  adjoining  states  had  brought 
everyone  in  debt.  Lands  and  goods  had  been  purchased,  and 
houses  erected,  not  demanded  by  the  legitimate  growth  and 
trade  of  the  country.  The  banks  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky 
failed,  and  those  at  home  and  in  St.  Louis  ceased  to  do  busi- 
ness. The  currency  had  driven  specie  out  of  the  country,  and 
when  the  former  became  worthless  there  was  no  money  left; 
and  but  little  commerce  to  bring  it  in.  The  people  began  to 
collect  their  debts  by  law,  but  as  there  was  more  property  than 
money,  a  very  little  of  the  latter  would  purchase  a  large  amount 
of  the  former.     It  would  take  a  large  farm  to  pay  a  small  debt. 

To  provide  a  way  to  escape  the  existing  evils,  the  legisla- 
ture chartered  the  State  Bank,  based  entirely  upon  the  credit 
of  the  State.  The  principal  bank  was-  to  be  at  Vandalia,  with 
branches  at  Shawneetown,  Edwardsville,  and  Brownsville.  One, 
two,  three,  five,  ten,  and  twenty-dollar  notes  were  authorized  to 
be  issued — bearing  two  per  cent  interest  per  annum  payable  by 
the  State  in  ten  years;  and  the  bank  was  directed  to  loan  its 
bills  to  the  people  in  sums  of  not  less  than  $100  on  personal 
security.  The  bills  were  made  receivable  in  payment  of  state 
and  county  taxes,  and  of  all  costs  and  fees,  and  the  salaries  of 
public  officers;  and  if  a  creditor  refused  to  indorse  on  his 
execution  his  willingness  to  receive  them  in  payment  of  his 
debt,  the  debtor  might  replevy  or  stay  its  collection  for  three 
years,  by  giving  personal  security. 

There  was  strenuous  opposition  to  the  bill,  led  by  Speaker 
McLean.  By  a  singular  provision  of  the  rules,  the  speaker  was 
not  permitted  to  participate  in   the  debates  except  when  the 


302  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

house  had  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  nor, 
indeed  to  vote  on  any  question,  except  when  a  tie  occurred.  In 
order  to  deprive  the  eloquent  speaker  from  exposing  the  objec- 
tionable features  of  the  proposed  measure,  the  house,  which 
contained  an  assured  majority  in  its  favor,  refused  to  go  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole.  McLean,  indignant  at  such  treat- 
ment, resigned  his  position,  and  upon  the  floor  of  the  house 
made  a  powerful  argument  against  the  bill,  in  which  he  pro- 
phetically predicted  all  the  evils  which  ultimately  resulted  from 
the  operations  of  the  bank.  But  the  bill  passed  nevertheless; 
and  when  the  council  of  revision  returned  it  pointing  out  the 
objections  to  its  provisions,  and  showing  that  it  was  inexpedient 
and  unconstitutional,  it  was  again  enacted  by  the  requisite 
majority.  It  was  championed  in  the  house  by  Richard  M. 
Young,  with  regard  to  whose  subsequent  election  to  the  United- 
States  senate  Gov.  Ford  remarks,  "he  was  one  of  the  very  many 
examples  in  our  history  of  the  forgiving  disposition  of  the 
people,  to  such  of  their  public  servants  as  have  been  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  be  in  favor  of  bad  measures,  or  opposed  to  good 
ones." 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  operations  of  this  bank  will 
only  be  briefly  alluded  to.  At  first,  it  was  a  very  popular 
institution,  everybody  that  wanted  money,  which  included 
nearly  the  entire  population,  was  accommodated,  without  much 
regard  being  paid  to  the  kind  of  security  offered.  In  this  way 
$300,000  was  soon  put  in  circulation.  As  there  was  not  enough 
silver  in  the  country  for  change,  the  bills  were  cut  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  fractional  currency.  In  the  meantime  payments  to 
the  banks  of  their  loans  were  slow  and  uncertain.  No  such 
thing  as  redemption  was  thought  of,  and  the  bills  began  to  fall 
below  par — first  the  depreciation  was  twenty  per  cent,  but  the 
value  of  the  currency  gradually  decreased  until  it  was  worth 
but  thirty  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  derangement  of  business, 
and  the  difficulties  of  carrying  on  a  government,  with  such  a 
system  of  currency,  for  the  five  or  six  following  years,  need  not 
be  particularly  described.  They  fully  justified  the  state  of 
things  presaged  by  those  who  had  tried  so  hard  to  prevent  the 
passage  of  the  law.  The  State  in  issuing  auditor's  warrants,  as 
it  did  in   1825,  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars  for  one,  to  defray 


THE    STAY-LAW.  303 

current  expenses,  lost  $75,000;  and  this  expensive  system  must 
have  cost  the  State  altogether  a  sum  at  least  equal  to  the 
amount  of  bills  issued  by  the  bank — $300,000. 

Another  law  passed  by  the  second  general  assembly,  only 
less  ill-advised  than  the  banking-law,  because  it  covered  less- 
ground,  was  the  stay-law,  by  which  all  previously-issued  execu- 
tions on  judgments  were  to  be  stopped  or  returned,  and  no  new 
ones  issued  until  after  November  20,  following,  unless  there  was 
danger  of  losing  the  debt,  in  which  case  it  might  be  stayed  by 
giving  bond  with  security.  This  was  also  reenacted  over  the 
objections  of  the  council  of  revision;  as  were  also  the  laws 
providing  for  the  trial  of  rights  of  property;  and  to  establish  a 
court  of  probate. 

As  if  not  satisfied  with  their  action  in  antagonizing  the  gover- 
nor and  supreme  court,  the  two  houses  of  the  general  assembly 
were  decidedly  outspoken  in  the  interchange  of  mutual  compli- 
ments when,  as  was  supposed,  their  own  dignity  was  at  stake. 
The  senate  had  adopted  a  joint  resolution  authorizing  the 
secretary  of  state  to  give  his  certificate,  and  the  auditor  his 
warrant,  for  the  payment  to  the  proper  parties,  of  the  same 
amount  for  returning  the  vote  for  president  and  vice-president, 
as  for  other  elections.  Instead  of  acting  upon  this  resolution, 
the  house  passed  a  bill  for  that  purpose  and  sent  it  to  the 
senate  in  the  usual  way  for  its  concurrence.  The  senate  at 
once  passed  a  resolution  of  inquiry  regarding  the  disposition  of 
their  joint  resolution,  "believing,"  as  therein  expressed,  "that 
they  are  entitled  to  decorous  and  parliamentary  treatment  and 
attention  from  the  house!"  In  reply  to  this  the  house  promptly 
passed  and  transmitted  to  the  senate  a  resolution  setting  forth 
"that  they  had  laid  said  resolution  on  the  table  to  be  acted 
upon  when  they  forgot  the  constitution  and  fundamental  laws 
of  the  State."  The  issue  was  becoming  decidedly  interesting, 
and  the  senate  not  to  be  over  hasty  in  its  action  referred  what 
was  considered  a  belligerent  message  to  a  select  committee, 
which  without  unnecessary  delay  made  a  report  as  follows:  "We 
see  no  cause  to  regret  the  conduct  of  the  senate,  and  that 
although  we  feel  every  disposition  to  pass  over  the  subject  as 
lightly  as  possible,  making  at  the  same  time  any  reasonable 
allowance  for  the  passions  of  the  moment,  and  the  frailties  of 


304  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

human  nature;  yet  we  believe  that  it  behooves  the  senate  as  an 
independent  branch  of  the  government  to  maintain  their  rights. 
Therefore,  resolved,  that  the  resolution  of  the  above  alluded  to 
lie  under  the  table,  there  to  remain  until  the  senate  forget  their 
rights,  or  the  house  of  representatives  adhere  to  the  joint  rules 
for  the  government  of  both  houses  of  this  general  assembly." 

No  regular  elections  were  to  be  held  at  this  session,  but 
vacancies  were  to  be  filled  in  the  offices  of  associate-justice  of 
the  supreme  court,  and  attorney-general.  For  the  former,  Wm. 
Wilson  was  elected ;  and  for  the  latter,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  on 
the  fourteenth  ballot,  his  opponents  being  Henry  Dodge  and 
Theopholis  W.  Smith.  Following  this  came  the  extraordinary 
election  for  the  newly-created  bank  officers,  and  judges  of 
probate,  with  the  attendant  button-holing  and  log-rolling.  So 
that  this  legislature  did  not  adjourn  without  passing  through 
all  the  different  phases  of  excitement  incident  to  these  early 
sessions. 

Although  the  second  general  assembly  contained  some 
members  of  ability  and  good  law-making  talent — such  men  as 
McLean,  Young,  Slade,  Eddy,  Mather,  and  Alexander,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  aggregate  of  its  work  was  very  bad — so 
bad  in  fact  that  it  was  many  years  before  the  State  recov- 
ered from  the  unwise  legislation  for  which  it  must  be  held 
responsible. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Bond  outside  of  the  political  con- 
troversies which  were  never  permitted  to  sleep  or  rest,  and  which 
in  many  of  their  aspects  were  transferred  to  Washington,  was 
quiet  and  uneventful.  The  change  from  a  territorial  to  a  state 
government  had  been  effected  without  friction  or  disturbance. 
There  was  really  not  much  for  the  executive  to  do — no  rail- 
roads—  no  state  institutions  requiring  attention,  no  asylums, 
not  even  a  penitentiary.  The  Indians  were  quiet  and  peaceable 
— in  fact  the  most  of  them  had  removed  from  the  settled 
portion  of  the  State.  His  clemency  was  invoked  to  stay  the 
execution  of  William  Bennett,  who  had  in  1820  killed  Alphonso 
Stewart  in  the  first  and  last  duel  ever  fought  in  the  State;  but 
the  governor  would  yield  to  no  entreaties,  and  Bennett  was 
hung  in  the  presence  of  a  large  crowd.  It  was  thought  that  the 
firmness  of  the  governor  in  insisting  upon  the  execution  of  the 


GOVERNOR   BOND.  305 

law    had    much   to   do   with    making   duelling   unpopular  and 
discreditable  in  the  State. 

The  governor  was  not  required  by  the  first  constitution  to 
reside  at  the  capital,  except  during  the  sessions  of  the  legisla- 
ture. These  over,  Gov.  Bond  returned  to  the  more  congenial 
pursuits  of  his  farm,  the  raising  of  stock,  and  the  enjoyment  of 
hunting.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  governor  he  was 
again  appointed  to  the  office  of  register  of  the  land-office — at 
that  time  the  most  lucrative  position  in  the  State,  the  salary 
being  $3000.  In  1824,  Bond  became  the  Crawford  candidate 
for  congress  against  Daniel  P.  Cook,  who  was  understood  to  be 
the  friend  of  J.  O.  Adams,  but  certainly  opposed  to  Crawford. 
It  was  a  presidential  year,  and  the  friends  of  the  ex-governor 
entered  warmly  into  the  contest,  bringing  every  possible 
consideration  of  a  personal  or  political  nature  to  bear  in  his 
favor,  but  all  without  avail  against  his  more  popular  competitor 
— the  result  being  for  Cook  7460,  Bond  4374.  This  was  Gov. 
Bond's  last  appeal  as  a  candidate  directly  to  the  people;  there- 
after he  confined  his  attention  to  the  duties  of  the  land-office, 
and  the  entertainment  of  his  friends  at  his  mansion,  where, 
upon  its  broad  verandas,  the  old  battles  were  fought  again, 
and  new  combinations  made  for  future  contests.  His  death 
occurred  April  12,  1832.  His  old  residence,  long  since  sur- 
rounded by  bushes  and;  weeds,  has  gone  to  decay.  But  the 
State  in  1881,  mindful  of  the  faithful  services  of  its  first  gov- 
ernor, provided  for  the  removal  of  his  remains  to  Chester,  and 
the  erection  of  a  monument  over  his  grave. 

The  expenditures  of  the  state  government  at  this  time  were 
certainly  economical  and  were  mainly  confined  to  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  departments. 
The  bills  for  stationery  for  the  second  general  assembly 
amounted  to  $97.50,  among  the  items  being,  5  cork  inkstands, 
$1.87;  2  pewter  inkstands,  $1.25;  1  china  inkstand,  $1.50;  2 
reams  writing-paper,  $13.50;  English  quills,  per  100,  $1.25;  ink, 
per  bottle,  $1.00.  Fire-wood  cost  $1.50  per  cord,  of  which 
seventy  cords  were  consumed;  150  copies  only  of  the  governor's 
message  were  ordered  printed.  The  members  of  the  first 
general  assembly  received  $4.00  per  day  and  mileage,  and 
those  of  the  second,  $3.50  and  mileage. 
20 


306  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The   entire    State   receipts    and    expenditures    during   Gov, 
Bond's  administration  were  as  follows: 

Receipts  from  Oct.  18,  1818,  to  Dec.  31,  1820,  $53,362.22 

Expenditures,  as  ascertained  from  auditor's  report,  $35,655.00 

Receipts  from  Dec.  31,  1820,  to  Dec.  31,  1822: 

Cash  on  hand         - $17,707.22 

Collected  from  sheriff        -  7,268.23 

Taxes  received  from  non-residents          -         -  38,437.75 

Non-resident  bank-stock            -  97-77 

From  salines  on  Ohio  and  Muddy  rivers         -  10,763.09 

From  sales,  Vandalia  lots           -  5,659.86 

$79,933-92 

Expenditures  Dec.  31,  1820,  to  Dec.  31,  1822: 

Legislative  department         -         -  $14,966.18 

Executive  department              -         -  6,940.06 

Judicial  department              -  7,932-33 

Prosecuting-attorneys      -  1,531.08 

Contingent  fund — Printing,  etc.             -  3,976.36 

Ohio  saline                         -  1,800.00 

Repairs  and  furnishing  state-house  1,101.57 

Militia        ------  748.00 

Postage  for  state  officers  -  -  234.10 
Special  appropriations  (including 

boundary-line  expenses  $784,  state 

bank  $2000,  Pike  County  $1500)  7,915-57         47,H5-25 

$32,788.67 

The  receipts  of  the  State  of  Indiana  during  the  same  period 
were  $102,102  and  the  expenditures  $102,168. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

The  Election  of  Gov.  Coles — Third  General  Assembly — 
The  Struggle  to  make  Illinois  a  Slave-State— Election 
of  United-States  Senator — 1822-1826. 

THE  career  of  Edward  Coles  in  Illinois  constituted  a  remark- 
able episode  in  his  own  life,  and  an  era  in  the  history  of 
Illinois  signalized  by  a  series  of  events  as  imposing  as  they 
were  important  in  their  results.  Of  the  fourscore  years  which 
his  span  of  life  exceeded,  only  thirteen  were  passed  in  the  State; 
but  these  were  years  of  unexampled  industry,  and  heroic 
conflict,  in  which  he  made  a  record  as  valuable  as  it  is 
imperishable. 

He  was  born  in  Albermarle  County,  Virginia,  Dec.  15,  1786; 
and  was  descended  from  a  prominent  and  influential  family. 
After  attending  the  college  of  Hampden  Sidney  a  short  time, 
he  entered  that  of  William  and  Mary,  where  he  remained  two 
years,  but  was  compelled  to  leave  before  graduation  on  account 
of  a  severe  fracture  of  his  leg.  He  was  nearly  six  feet  in 
height,  of  a  slender  build,  with  brilliant  eyes,  and  strongly- 
marked  but  agreeable  features.  After  two  years  study  at  home, 
President  Madison  tendered  him  the  appointment  of  private 
secretary,  which  position  he  acceptably  filled  six  years;  when, 
at  the  urgent  request  of  the  president,  he  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment of  special  messenger  to  Russia,  in  which  capacity,  to  use 
the  language  of  James  Monroe,  "he  discovered  sound  judgment, 
united  to  great  industry  and  fidelity." 

He  first  visited  Illinois  in  18 15,  while  making  a  tour  of  the 
western  country,  seeking  a  location;  and  again  in  18 18,  stop- 
ping a  while  at  Waterloo.  He  was  at  Kaskaskia  while  the 
convention  to  form  a  constitution  for  the  new  state  was  in 
session.  Although  an  hereditary  slave-holder  he  had  deter- 
mined to  remove  from  Virginia  and  no  longer  remain  an  owner 
of  human  chattels.  Impressed  with  the  advantages  which  Illi- 
nois offered  to  new  settlers,  he  became  deeply  interested  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  convention  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and 

307 


308  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

exerted  his  influence  to  secure  the  adoption,  in  the  organic  law 
of  the  commonwealth  where  he  intended  to  make  his  home,  of 
the  anti-slavery  article  in  pursuance  of  the  requirement  of  the 
Ordinance  of  1787. 

Having  finally  decided  to  remove  to  Illinois,  his  preparations 
all  completed,  on  April  1,  18 19,  he  set  out  from  his  Virginia 
plantation  for  the  more  inviting  fields  of  the  Prairie  State. 
The  little  caravan  which  he  headed  was  of  modest  proportions, 
consisting  of  canvas-covered  wagons,  which  conveyed  his  ten 
negroes,  with  their  offspring,  and  his  household  effects;  himself 
riding  on  horseback.  Arriving  at  Brownsville,  Pa.,  he  purchased 
two  flat-boats  in  which  the  journey  was  continued  to  a  point 
below  Louisville,  where  the  party  disembarked,  and  continued 
their  way  by  land  to  Edwardsville. 

Mr.  Coles  had  carefully  refrained  from  giving  his  slaves  any 
intimation  of  his  intention  to  enfranchise  them  until  after  they 
had  passed  Pittsburg.  The  manner  of  its  announcement,  and 
the  dramatic  scene  which  followed,  are  best  portrayed  in  his  own 
language.  He  says:  "Being  curious  to  see  the  effect  of  an  in- 
stantaneous severing  of  the  manacles  of  bondage,  and  letting 
loose  on  the  buoyant  wings  of  liberty  the  long  pent-up  spirit 
of  man,  I  called  on  the  deck  of  the  boats  which  were  lashed 
together  all  the  negroes  and  made  them  a  short  address;  in 
which  I  commenced  by  saying,  that  it  was  time  for  me  to 
make  known  to  them  what  I  intended  to  do  with  them,  and 
concluded  my  remarks  by  so  expressing  myself  that  by  a  turn 
of  the  sentence  I  proclaimed  in  the  shortest  and  fullest  manner 
possible  that  they  were  no  longer  slaves,  but  free — free  as  I 
was,  and  were  at  liberty  to  proceed  with  me,  or  to  go  ashore  at 
their  pleasure.  The  effect  was  electrical,  they  stared  at  me  as 
if  doubting  the  accuracy  or  reality  of  what  they  heard.  In 
breathless  silence  they  stood  before  me,  unable  to  utter  a  word, 
but  with  countenances  beaming  with  expression,  which  no 
words  could  convey,  and  which  no  language  can  now  describe. 
*  *  After  a  pause  of  intense  and  unutterable  emotion,  bathed 
in  tears,  and  with  tremulous  voices,  they  gave  vent  to  their 
gratitude,  and  implored  the  blessings  of  God  on  me." 

His  former  vassals  having  expressed  a  desire  to  remain  with 
him  until    they  had  seen  him  "comfortably  fixed"  in  his  new 


THE   GUBERNATORIAL   CONTEST.  309 

home,  he  kindly  but  firmly  declined  the  offer,  and  to  their 
further  bewilderment  assured  them  that  upon  arriving  at  their 
destination — now  the  Eldorado  of  their  hopes  —  as  a  reward 
for  their  past  services,  and  as  a  stimulant  to  future  exertions 
in  the  struggle  for  self-support,  it  was  his  intention  to  give 
each  head  of  family  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land; 
which  promise  he  redeemed  to  the  letter,  against  the  protests 
of  his  beneficiaries. 

Upon  arriving  at  Edwardsville,  Mr.  Coles  at  once  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  office  of  register  of  the 
land-office,  to  which  position  he  had  been  appointed,  March  5, 
by  President  Monroe,  before  leaving  Virginia,  and  which  he 
filled  not  only  faithfully,  but  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public. 

As  the  period  approached  for  the  election  of  State  officers  in 
August,  1822,  candidates  for  gubernatorial  honors  began  to 
multiply.  They  were  definitely  announced  as  follows:  Joseph 
Phillips,  chief- justice  of  the  supreme  court,  supported  by  the 
friends  of  ex-Gov.  Bond,  who  was  not  eligible  to  reelection; 
Thomas  C.  Browne,  a  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  supported  by 
the  followers  of  Gov.  Edwards;  Gen.  James  B.  Moore,  a  noted 
Indian  fighter,  supported  by  the  old  rangers;  and  Edward  Coles. 

While  the  direct  issue  of  making  Illinois  a  slave-state  was  not 
raised  in  the  canvass  for  governor,  "it  was  in  the  air,"  and  its 
consideration  undoubtedly  exercised  more  or  less  influence 
upon  the  choice  of  candidates.  It  was  felt  that  the  question 
could  not  long  be  deferred,  and  indeed  was  even  then  being 
agitated  by  some  aspirants  for  the  legislature.  Of  the  candi- 
dates, Phillips  and  Browne  were  known  to  be  pro-slavery,  while 
the  action  of  Coles  had  identified  him  very  squarely  with  the 
anti-slavery  party. 

His  position  as  register  had  brought  him  into  direct  personal 
contact  with  his  fellow-citizens  from  all  sections  of  the  State, 
and  the  acquaintances  thus  formed  proved  to  be  of  no  small 
advantage  to  his  political  prospects.  When  the  time  came  for 
voting,  he  found  that  he  could  count  upon  the  support  of  many 
of  those  rough,  plain  farmers,  clad  in  homespun,  whose  interests 
he  had  protected  and  who  had  found  him  attentive  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties,  courteous  in  manner,  and,  if  somewhat 
stiff  and  angular,  intelligent  and  sympathetic. 


3IO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

It  was  supposed  that  the  contest  lay  between  Phillips  and 
Browne,  and  that  Coles  had  but  very  little  chance  of  success. 
The  result  was  one  of  those  political  surprises  which  have  not 
been  infrequent  in  elections  in  this  State,  when  the  candidate 
least  expected  came  out  ahead  in  the  race.  The  canvass 
showed  that  Coles  had  received  2854  votes,  Phillips  2687, 
Browne,  2443,  and  Moore,  622 — Coles  plurality  being  only  167, 
while  on  the  total  vote  cast  he  was  in  a  minority  of  4752. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  was  a  great  triumph.  Coles  had 
not  been  identified  with  either  the  Edwards  or  Bond  factions, 
and  was  opposed  by  both.  He  had  no  official  patronage,  nor 
the  advantage  of  any  "machine."  But,  which  was  much  better, 
he  had  the  sympathy  and  cordial  support  of  the  anti-slavery 
element  among  the  voters,  who  remembered  with  gratitude  the 
practical  and  generous  evidence  he  had  given  of  his  abiding 
faith  in  free  soil  and  free  men. 

To  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  governor,  Coles  brought  an 
unimpeachable  integrity,  an  unswerving  fidelity  to  honest  con- 
victions, and  a  conscientious  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  the 
people.  At  the  same  time  he  lacked  that  experience  in  public 
affairs  which  might  have  enabled  him  to  tide  over  more  than 
one  of  those  stormy  waves  which  at  times  threatened  to  engulf 
his  administration.  Prior  to  his  appointment  as  register,  as  has 
been  seen,  his  life  had  been  uneventful  and  but  little  calculated 
to  develop  those  qualities  indispensable  to  an  executive  man- 
agement, at  once  wise  and  popular  in  a  young  and  growing 
state.  Without  previous  training  in  either  the  executive  or 
legislative  departments  of  such  a  commonwealth,  he  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  grave  duties  at  a  serious  disadvantage. 

The  candidates  for  congress  at  this  election  were  Daniel  P. 
Cook,  and  John  McLean,  who  made  the  race  against  each  other 
for  the  third  time;  the  former  was  again  successful,  by  a 
majority  of  876  votes. 

The  slavery  question  was  by  no  means  a  new  one  in  Illinois. 
It  had  been  the  subject  of  frequent  and  always  exciting  discus- 
sion in  and  out  of  the  legislature  from  the  time  of  the  territorial 
organization.  African  slaves  were  first  introduced,  as  heretofore 
stated,  by  Renault  in  1722;  and  in  1724,  the  government  of, 
police  over,  and   traffic  in  negro  slaves  in  Louisiana  of  which 


SLAVERY   IN   ILLINOIS.  311 

Illinois  was  a  part,  was  regulated  by  ordinance  of  the  King  of 
France.  When  Louisiana  was  transferred  to  Great  Britain  in 
1763,  that  government  by  proclamation  of  Gen.  Gage,  declared 
that  the  late  subjects  of  France  should  enjoy  the  same  rights 
and  privileges,  "the  same  security  for  their  persons  and  effects," 
as  the  old  subjects  of  the  king.  As  slavery  was  at  that  time 
recognized  in  her  colonies  by  Great  Britain,  there  was  no  inter- 
ference in  Illinois  with  slave-property.  Negroes  were  continued 
in  servitude  as  before.  It  was  also  expressly  stipulated  in  the 
Virginia  deed  of  cession  to  the  United  States  "that  the  French 
and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other  settlers  of  the  Kaskaskias, 
St.  Vincents,  and  the  neighboring  villages  who  have  professed 
themselves  citizens  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  shall  have  their 
possessions  and  titles  confirmed  to  them,  and  be  protected  in 
their  rights  and  liberties," — which  was  understood  and  inter- 
preted at  the  time  to  mean  that  the  right  of  property  in  slaves 
should  be  recognized  and  protected.  And  in  pursuance  of  this 
stipulation,  while  slavery  was  prohibited  in  all  that  territory  by 
the  Ordinance  of  1787,  that  instrument  contained  a  clause  as 
follows:  "saving  however  to  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabi- 
tants and  other  settlers  of  the  Kaskaskias,  St.  Vincents,  and  the 
neighboring  villages,  who  have  heretofore  professed  themselves 
citizens  of  Virginia,  their  laws  and  customs  now  in  force  among 
them  relative  to  the  descent  and  conveyance  of  property." 
The  effect  of  these  provisions  was  considered  by  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  construed  by  Gov.  St.  Clair  to  mean  that  while  the 
extension  of  slavery  was  prohibited,  existing  property  rela- 
tions, including  slavery,  were  recognized  and  upheld — that  is 
that  the  slaves  in  the  Territory,  and  their  descendants,  should 
remain  in  their  previous  condition,  but  that  no  more  slaves 
should  be  imported  into  the  Territory.  This  was  the  conserva- 
tive view;  others,  and  among  them  Gov.  Edwards,  went  still 
farther,  and  contended  that  the  Ordinance  of  1787  was  uncon- 
stitutional, congress  having  exceeded  its  power  in  adopting  the 
sixth  'article.  Others  again  claimed  that  the  children  of  all 
slaves  born  after  1787  became  free  by  virtue  of  the  ordinance. 

Slaveholders  began  to  exhibit  uneasiness  on  the  subject  of 
their  tenure,  and  as  early  as  1794  the  question  was  raised  of 
repealing   or   superseding   the   prohibitory   clause  of  the   ordi- 


312  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

nance,  and  a  number  of  persons  petitioned  congress  at  least  to 
suspend  its  operation.  So  widespread  had  this  feeling  become 
by  1802,  that  Gen.  Harrison  was  induced  to  call  a  delegate 
convention,  which  assembled  at  Vincennes,  December  20,  to 
consider  the  question.  The  members  from  Illinois  were 
Shadrach  Bond,  John  Moredoch,  and  Jean  F.  Perry,  from  St. 
Clair  County;  and  Robert  Morrison,  Pierre  Menard,  and  Robert 
Reynolds,  from  Randolph.  A  memorial  to  congress  was 
adopted,  setting  forth  the  great  benefits  which  would  flow  to 
the  people  from  slaveholding,  and  praying  for  the  repeal  or 
modification  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  This 
document  was  transmitted  to  congress,  and  was  referred  to  a 
committee  of  which  John  Randolph  was  chairman,  who  in 
March,  1803,  presented  a  report  in  which  were  set  forth  with 
great  clearness  the  following  advanced  views:  "that  the  labor  of 
slaves  is  not  necessary  to  promote  the  growth  and  settlement 
of  colonies  in  that  region.  That  this  labor,  demonstrably  the 
dearest  of  any,  can  only  be  employed  to  advantage  in  the  culti- 
vation of  products  more  valuable  that  any  known  to  that 
quarter  of  the  United  States;  that  the  committee  deem  it 
highly  dangerous  and  inexpedient  to  impair  a  provision  wisely 
calculated  to  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
northwestern  country,  and  to  give  strength  and  security  to  that 
extensive  frontier.  In  the  salutary  operation  of  this  sagacious 
and  benevolent  restraint,  it  is  believed  that  the  inhabitants  will, 
at  no  very  distant  day,  find  ample  remuneration  for  a  temporary 
privation  of  labor  and  immigration." 

This  adverse  report  submitted  at  the  close  of  the  session  was 
not  acted  upon.  At  the  next  session,  the  memorial  was  referred 
to  a  new  committee  of  which  Caesar  A.  Rodney  of  Delaware 
was  chairman,  and  a  report  was  presented  recommending  the 
granting  of  the  memorialists  request,  and  the  suspension  of  the 
obnoxious  article  for  ten  years,  but  no  action  was  taken  thereon. 

In  the  territorial  legislature  of  1805  the  question  was  again 
brought  forward,  and  another  memorial  to  congress  was 
adopted  of  similar  import  to  that  already  forwarded.  This  was 
also  favorably  reported  upon  in  congress  but  no  action  thereon 
followed.  But  still  persistent,  Gen.  Harrison  transmitted  another 
legislative  petition  to  the  next  congress,  with  like  result. 


INDENTURED   SLAVERY.  3  IS 

In  1807,  a  largely  -  attended  meeting  of  influential  citizens 
was  held  in  Clark  County,  Indiana,  at  which  a  remonstrance 
against  the  proposed  introduction  and  continuance  of  slavery 
was  extensively  signed;  this  also  was  forwarded  to  congress, 
and  doubtless  had  its  effect,  as  the  committee  to  whom  this 
subject  was  again  referred,  reported  adversely  to  the  memorial; 
and  thus  terminated  the  efforts  in  congress  to  abrogate  the 
article  prohibiting  slavery  in   the  Northwest  Territory. 

Having  been  unsuccessful  in  their  appeal  to  congress,  the 
advocates  of  slavery  in  the  Territory  determined  to  evade  the 
restrictive  provision  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  and  accomplish 
the  desired  result  in  another  way.  This  was  by  the  enactment 
of  a  law  by  the  first  territorial  legislature,  and  revised  in  1807, 
entitled  "an  act  concerning  the  introduction  of  negroes  and 
mulattoes  into  this  Territory."  It  provided  that  any  slave- 
holder might  bring  his  chattels  over  fifteen  years  of  age  into 
the  Territory  and  have  them  indentured  and  registered,  and 
continued  in  servitude  upon  certain  conditions.  Slaves  under 
that  age  might  be  brought  in  and  held— the  males  until  thirty- 
five  years  and  females  until  thirty-two  years  of  age  if  properly 
registered.  Children  born  of  indentured  slaves  must  serve  the 
master  of  the  mother  —  males  until  thirty  years  and  females 
until  twenty-eight  years  of  age — the  scope  of  which  act  virtu- 
ally legalized  slavery  in  the  Territory  to  a  certain  extent. 

In  all  the  efforts  put  forth  to  effect  the  nullification  of  the 
sixth  article  of  the  Ordinance,  nearly  all  the  leading  men  in  the 
counties  of  Randolph  and  St.  Clair  —  Bond,  Menard,  Edgar, 
Fisher,  Perry,  and  the  Morrisons  —  heartily  concurred  and 
assisted;  and  the  Indenture  Law  received  their  cordial  support. 
In  fact,  in  1796,  Edgar,  Win.  Morrison,  William  St. Clair,  and 
John  du  Moulin  had  forwarded  the  first  petition  to  congress 
praying  for  the  repeal  of  the  anti-slavery  article.  And  although 
public  sentiment  against  slavery,  under  the  leadership  of  such 
men  as  Jonathan  Jennings  and  James  Beggs,  had  grown  so 
strong  in  the  territory  of  Indiana  as  to  enable  the  friends  of 
freedom  to  repeal  the  obnoxious  Indenture  Law  in  18 10,  there 
was  no  voice  of  any  strength  raised  against  it  in  Illinois;  where 
among  the  first  acts  adopted  by  Gov.  Edwards  and  the  judges 
was  this  one,  which  was  also  reenacted  by  the  first  territorial 
legislature  in  18 12. 


314  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Under  this  law  the  number  of  slaves  rapidly  increased.  In 
1800,  there  were  but  133  reported  in  the  territory  of  Indiana, 
which  then  included  Illinois.  Ten  years  later  there  were  168 
in  Illinois  alone,  and  in  1820  the  number  had  risen  to  917. 

Meanwhile  the  constitution  of  18 18  had  been  adopted,  in 
which  it  was  provided  that  "neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  shall  hereafter  be  introduced  into  this  State."  This 
article  met  with  serious  opposition  from  the  slaveholding 
element,  and  as  a  concession  to  their  views  the  section  recog- 
nizing indentured  slavery  was  adopted.  Further  than  this  the 
majority  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  go  and  run  the  risk  of  the 
rejection  of  the  instrument  by  congress. 

The  opposition  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave-state 
had  a  quieting  effect,  but  the  introduction  and  advocacy  by  a 
senator  from  Illinois  of  the  pro-slavery  compromise,  which  was 
afterward  adopted,  revived  the  discussion  and  gave  renewed 
confidence  to  the  hope  of  slave-owners  and  other  pro-slavery 
advocates  that  with  proper  efforts  Illinois  might  yet  be  made 
a  slave-state.  To  further  this  end,  during  the  winter  of  1819-20 
the  friends  of  slavery  extension  had  conceived  the  project  of 
establishing  a  party  organ  at  Edwardsville,  which  failed  only 
because  the  person  selected  as  editor  had  previously  found  a 
more  lucrative  employment  in  another  field.* 

Senator  Thomas,  who  was  a  candidate  for  reelection,  and 
known  as  a  pro-slavery  champion,  naturally  interested  himseli 
to  secure  the  election  to  the  legislature  of  those  who  were  in 
sympathy  with  him  on  this  subject,  and  whenever  it  could  be 
done  safely,  the  issue  was  made. 

Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard  was  elected  lieutenant-gover- 
nor; and  as  will  be  seen  there  was  a  large  majority  returned 
of  those  who  proved  to  be  pro-slavery  or  pro-convention  mem- 
bers in  both  houses  of  the  general  assembly,  some  of  them 
succeeding  in  districts  where,  if  the  question  had  been  squarely 
presented,  they  would  have  been  defeated.  Such,  briefly 
outlined,  was  the  previous  history  of  slavery  agitation,  and  such 
the  influences  at  work  to  make  Illinois  a  slave-state,  when  the 
contending  forces  "locked  horns"  at  the  opening  of  the  third 
general  assembly,  Dec.  2,  1822. 

*  Edwards'  "History  of  Illinois,"  184.-5. 


GOV.   COLES'    INAUGURAL.  3  I  5 

The  house  organized  by  the  election  of  Wm.  M.  Alexander 
as  speaker,  and  Charles  Dunn,  clerk.  Thomas  Lippincott  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  senate,  and  Henry  Dodge  enrolling 
and  engrossing  clerk. 

In  his  inaugural  address,  delivered  in  person  before  the  joint 
assembly  of  the  legislature,  after  alluding  to  the  deranged 
financial  condition  of  the  State,  and  pointing  out  some  object- 
ionable features  of  the  existing  banking-law,  Gov.  Coles  urged 
upon  the  members  the  importance  of  establishing  a  navigable 
waterway  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  great  northern 
lakes.  Had  he  studied  the  temper  of  the  body  he  was  address- 
ing and  closed  his  communication  at  this  point,  the  antagonism 
of  those  opposed  to  him  who  were  still  smarting  under  the 
humiliation  of  unexpected  defeat,  would  not  have  been  so 
strongly  aroused.  But  he  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions,  and 
oblivious  of  the  fact  that  the  majority  was  in  no  humor  to 
submit  to  the  dictation  of  a  minority  executive,  he  took  the 
risk  of  still  further  widening  the  breach  between  himself  and 
them,  by  boldly  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the  slavery 
question,  which  he  made  the  emphatic  and  prominent  feature 
of  his  address.  He  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  despite  the 
provisions  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  slavery  still  existed  in  the 
State,  and  he  earnestly  recommended  its  extinction,  declaring 
that  "justice  and  humanity  required  a  general  revisal  of  the 
laws  relative  to  negroes,  in  order  the  better  to  adapt  them  to 
the  character  of  our  institutions  and  the  situation  of  the 
•country."  He  also  advised  the  enactment  of  more  effective 
laws  to  prevent  the  kidnapping  of  free  blacks — a  crime  at  that 
time  frequently  committed  with  impunity,  and  which  he  re- 
garded as  a  disgrace  not  only  to  the  State,  but  to  christian 
civilization  as  well. 

This  was  bearding  the  lion  in  his  den.  To  say  that  the 
address  evoked  all  the  latent  hostility  to  the  governor,  which 
needed  only  a  breath  to  kindle  into  a  flame,  is  to  state  but 
mildly  the  storm  of  opposition  which  beat  around  him.  His 
course  was  doubtless  impolitic,  but  subsequent  events  have 
shown  that  if  this  enthusiastic  Virginia  abolitionist  precipi- 
tated a  conflict  which  had  been  long  delayed,  perhaps  no 
better    period    in  the  history  of    the   State  could    have   been 


3  l6  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

selected  nor  could  more  favorable  circumstances  have  existed 
under  which  to  bring  it  to  a  decisive  issue.  It  formed  the 
distinguishing  feature  of  Gov.  Coles'  administration,  "and  in- 
volved consequences  to  the  State  and  Union  which  can  not  be 
measured  by  human  ken." 

Before  narrating  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature  following 
the  governor's  message,  however,  it  will  be  proper  to  note 
the  result  of  the  animated  contest  for  the  office  of  United- 
States  senator,  which  first  engrossed  attention,  and  for  the 
time  being  subordinated  all  other  questions.  The  candidates 
were  Jesse  B.  Thomas  to  succeed  himself,  John  Reynolds, 
Leonard  White,  then  a  senator,  and  Samuel  D.  Lockwood. 
All  of  these  except  the  last  named  favored  the  calling  of  a  con- 
vention. Reynolds  supposed  that  if  the  election  could  be 
delayed  until  spring  the  elements  opposed  to  Thomas  would  be 
enabled  to  unite  and  accomplish  his  defeat.*  But  the  effort 
put  forth  in  this  direction  failed.  Thomas  had  his  forces  so 
well  trained  that  he  was  able  to  hold  them  together,  and 
succeeded  in  fixing  January  9  as  the  day  for  the  election. 
The  result  was,  Thomas  received  twenty-nine  votes,  Reynolds 
sixteen,  White  six,  and  Lockwood  two,  insuring  the  election 
of  the  former  by  a  majority  of  five. 

State  officers  were  appointed  or  elected  as  follows:  Samuel 
D.  Lockwood,  secretary  of  state;  Elijah  C.  Berry,  auditor; 
Abner  Field,  treasurer;  and  James  Turney,  attorney-general. 

There  being  no  further  matters  requiring  preliminary  action 
the  special  committee  to  which  had  been  referred  that  portion 
of  the  governor's  message  relating  to  slavery,  presented  major- 
ity and  minority  reports. 

Messrs.  Beaird,  Boon,  Ladd,  Kinney,  and  White  reviewed  the 
entire  question  from  a  pro-slavery  stand-point,  and  after  stating 
that  "your  committee  are  clearly  of  opinion  that  the  people 
of  Illinois  have  now  the  same  right  to  alter  their  constitution 
as  the  people  of  Virginia  or  any  other  of  the  original  states, 
and  may  make  any  disposition  of  negro  slaves  they  choose 
without  any  breach  of  faith,  or  violation  of  compact,  ordinance, 
or  act  of  congress,"  they  recommended  the  adoption  of  a 
resolution  that  the  electors  at  the  next  general  election  vote  for 
or  against  a  convention  to  amend  the  constitution. 

*  "  Edwards'  Papers, "  204. 


ACTION   OF   THE   THIRD   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  317 

Messrs.  Moore  and  Emmet  in  their  minority  report,  recom- 
mended the  entire  abolition  of  slavery;  and  Conrad  Will  made 
a  separate  report. 

By  the  terms  of  the  constitution  that  instrument  could  not 
be  altered  or  amended  unless  the  question  of  a  convention  for 
that  purpose  should  be  submitted  to  the  people  by  a  joint- 
resolution  of  the  general  assembly,  adopted  by  a  two-third 
vote.  The  advocates  of  a  convention  had  the  necessary  two- 
thirds  in  the  senate,  but  lacked  one  vote  in  the  house.  Con- 
fident of  success  at  the  polls,  and  that  all  that  was  necessary 
to  accomplish  their  design  was  to  adopt  the  resolution  calling 
the  convention,  this  one  vote  they  were  determined  to  secure. 
It  soon  transpired  that  William  McFatridge,  formerly  identi- 
fied with  the  minority,  had  been  induced  through  some  occult 
influence  to  vote  for  the  resolution. 

No  cause  for  farther  delay  existing,  the  resolution  was  put  upon 
its  passage  in  the  house,  having  previously  passed  the  senate, 
February  11,  1S23.  After  so  much  labor  and  the  employment 
of  so  much  diplomacy  the  hopes  of  the  convention  men  were 
about  to  be  realized.  But  when  the  roll  was  called,  to  the 
surprise  and  dismay  of  the  majority,  Nicholas  Hansen  of  Pike 
County,  recorded  his  vote  in  the  negative,  and  after  all  the 
resolution  was  lost. 

The  election  of  Hansen  had  been  contested  by  John  Shaw, 
but  the  committee  on  elections  had  reported  unanimously  in 
favor  of  Hansen,  and  he  was  seated  by  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers. His  position  on  the  absorbing  question  had  undoubtedly 
been  sounded  and  found  satisfactory;  and  in  the  preliminary 
voting,  he  had  ranged  himself  with  the  majority  as  had  been 
expected.  But  it  seems  that  there  were  "influences"  at  work 
on  the  side  of  freedom  as  well  as  slavery,  and  when  the  test 
came  Hansen  gave  the  decisive  vote  which  defeated  the 
resolution. 

The  conventionists  were  furious,  and  their  indignation  against 
Hansen  was  both  deep  and  loud.  Their  watchword,  however, 
had  been  "convention  or  death";  and  they  were  ready  for  the 
adoption  of  any  means,  however  desperate,  to  bring  about  the 
desired  result.  How  was  the  situation  to  be  changed — could 
another  member  be  won  over?    It  did  not  take  long  for  unscrup- 


318  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

ulous  and  determined  managers  to  solve  the  problem.  There 
was  one  palpable  way  to  secure  the  much-needed  vote.  John 
Shaw,  who  had  failed  in  his  contest  for  Hansen's  seat  and  gone 
home,  although  claiming  to  be  anti-slavery  in  principle,  was 
known  to  be  in  favor  of  a  convention.  What  if  the  house 
had  already  decided  the  case  against  him  ?  That  one  vote 
must  be  obtained.  Accordingly  when  the  body  met  the  next 
morning,  Alexander  P.  Field,  afterward  secretary  of  state  for 
fourteen  years,  moved  a  reconsideration  of  the  vote  declar- 
ing Hansen  entitled  to  his  seat,  and  made  a  long  speech  in 
its  favor,  covering  the  ground  already  gone  over,  no  new  facts 
whatever  being  introduced.  A  strong  effort  was  made  by  the 
minority  to  defeat  the  motion,  but  the  edict  had  gone  forth, 
and  the  subservient  members  dare  not  refuse  to  obey  the  man- 
dates of  their  leaders.  The  vote  was  reconsidered,  and  the  name 
of  John  Shaw  having  been  inserted  in  place  of  that  of  Nicholas 
Hansen — eleven  members  having  changed  sides  on  the  question 
— the  resolution  as  amended  was  carried.  A  messenger  was 
despatched  in  hot  haste  to  Pike  County,  a  distance  of  over  a 
hundred  miles,  to  inform  Shaw  of  the  unexpected  honor  which 
awaited  him,  and  he  responded  to  the  call  with  equal  alacrity. 

There  was  still  a  hitch  in  the  proceedings  after  Shaw's 
arrival.  The  speaker  had  previously  decided  that  a  member 
of  a  constitutional  minority  could  not  move  a  reconsideration. 
Now  this  action  was  reversed,  and  a  motion  by  a  member  who 
voted  on  the  losing  side  to  reconsider  the  last  convention  reso- 
lution, was  carried,  the  resolution  again  put  on  its  passage  and, 
receiving  the  requisite  twenty-four  votes,  was  finally  passed.* 

*  Nicholas  Hansen,  whose  name  became  so  noted  in  connection  with  this  contro- 
versy, was  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  and  a  member  of  the  bar  formerly  of  Albany, 
New  York.  He  was  probate-judge  of  Pike  County  in  1821-2,  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  in  1822,  and  again  in  1824.  He  was  colonel  of  the  Seventeenth  Regiment 
Illinois  Militia  in  1821,  and  commissioned  as  brigadier-general  in  1824;  was  juaVe 
of  probate  in  1826.  He  returned  to  New  York  in  1829,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death  in  1872  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  years.  He  was  a  man  of  ability  and  superior 
education,  but  intemperate  habits. 

John  Shaw  was  also  an  early  settler  in  Pike  County  from  which  he  afterward 
removed  to  Wisconsin.  He  was  engaged  in  various  kinds  of  business  and  had  a 
fondness  for  politics.  He  had  the  reputation  of  being  ambitious,  restless,  and  enter- 
prising.    He  died  Aug.  31,  1871,  aged  89. 

Those  who  voted  for  the  resolution  were  Messrs.  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  John 
Grammar,  Thomas  Sloo,  jr.,  Martin  Jones,  William  Boon,  Samuel  Crozier,  Leonard 


CONVENTION    RESOLUTION   ADOPTED.  319 

The  triumph  of  the  convention  men  was  celebrated  by  a  wild 
and  drunken  carouse.  Forming  themselves  into  a  noisy  and 
disorderly  procession,  headed  by  Judges  Phillips,  Smith,  and 
Thomas  Reynolds,  and  senator,  afterward  lieutenant-governor, 
William  Kinney,  followed  by  the  pro-slavery  members  of  the 
legislature  and  the  sympathetic  lobby,  they  marched  to  the 
music  of  horns  and  the  beating  of  drums  and  tin-pans  to  the 
residence  of  the  governor,  and  those  of  their  more  prominent 
opponents,  whom  they  greeted  with  a  contemptuous  med- 
ley of  cat-calls,  groans,  wailings,  and  derisive  cheers;  intend- 
ing thus  not  only  to  humiliate  the  anti-convention  men  but  to 
intimidate  them,  and  crush  out  all  opposition.*  The  little  town 
of  Vandalia  indeed  was  practically  handed  over  to  the  mercy 
of  a  howling  mob — as  Gov.  John  Reynolds  characterizes  it  "a 
wild  and  indecorous  procession  by  torch-light  and  liquor."-f- 

The  success  of  the  pro  -  convention  party  though  resisted 
heroically  at  every  point,  imparted  to  the  situation  an  aspect 
of  gravity  which  was  fully  recognized  by  the  friends  of  freedom. 
But  while  discouraged,  they  were  not  disheartened,  and  deter- 
mined to  meet  the  issue  thus  tendered  with  all  the  means  and 
resources  at  their  command.  No  time  was  lost  by  either  side 
in  getting  ready  for  the  conflict.  Addresses  were  issued  to  the 
people,  private  conferences  and  public  meetings  were  held, 
organization  perfected,  money  raised,  and  leaders  selected. 
The  high-handed  and  revolutionary  proceeding  of  unseating  a 
legally-elected  member  to  obtain  the  lacking  vote,  and  the 
subsequent  riotous  conduct  of  the  pro-slavery  leaders,  which 
as  Gov.  Reynolds,  himself  a  conventionist,  says  "was  con- 
White,  Milton  Ladd,  William  Kinney,  Joseph  A.  Beaird,  Michael  Jones,  and  Lewis 
Barker,  of  the  senate;  and  Messrs.  Wm.  M.  Alexander,  Wm.  Alexander,  Samuel 
Alexander,  James  A.  Whitside,  Emanuel  J.  West,  Wm.  Berry,  Zadoc  Casey,  Thos. 
Dorris,  J.  G.  Daimwood,  James  S.  Davenport,  John  Emmett,  G.  R.  Logan,  R.  C. 
Ford,  Alex.  P.  Field,  John  Mcintosh,  William  McFatridge,  Alex.  Phillips,  John 
Shaw,  Joseph  Trottier,  John  McFerron,  Thomas  Rattan,  James  Turney,  Conrad 
Will,  and  James  Campbell,  of  the  house.  Those  who  voted  against  the  resolution, 
were  Messrs,  Stephen  Stillman,  Andrew  Bankson,  David  Parker,  William  Kinkead, 
George  Caldwell,  and  Robert  Frazier,  of  the  senate;  and  Curtis  Blakeman,  George 
Churchill,  Abraham  Cairnes,  David  McGahey,  Wm.  Lowrey,  Risdon  Moore,  Jacob 
Ogle,  Thomas  Mather,  Raphael  Widen,  Jonathan  H.  Pugh,  Gilbert  T.  Pell,  and 
James  Sims,  of  the  house. 

*  Ford's  "Illinois, "p.  53.  +  "My  Own  Times,"  2d  Ed.,  153. 


320  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

demned  by  all  honest  men,"  was  fully  set  forth  and  published 
through  the  State,  constituting  one  of  the  most  effective  cam- 
paign documents  ever  issued. 

Of  the  five  newspapers  in  the  State,  the  Edivardsville 
Spectator,  edited  by  Hooper  Warren,  was  opposed  to  the  con- 
vention, as  was  also  The  Illinois  Intelligencer  after  it  changed 
hands  early  in  the  campaign,  edited  by  David  Blackwell.  The 
Illinois  Gazette,  printed  at  Shawn eetown,  managed  by  Henry 
Eddy,  published  articles  on  both  sides,  but  was  regarded  as 
more  friendly  to  that  of  freedom.  The  Republican  Advocate 
at  Kaskaskia,  controlled  by  Elias  K.  Kane,  afterward  United- 
States  senator,  and  Thomas  Reynolds;  and  The  Republican  at 
Edwardsville,  under  the  direction  of  Judge  Theophilus  W. 
Smith,  Emanuel  J.  West,  and  Judge  Samuel  Mc Roberts,  after- 
ward United-States  senator,  were  the  organs  of  the  convention. 

The  contest  which  followed  these  preparations  and  which 
continued  for  the  long  period  of  eighteen  months,  was  not  only 
the  most  exciting  that  had  yet  occurred  in  the  State,  but 
loomed  up  into  national  importance.  With  Illinois  as  a  slave- 
state,  the  preponderance  of  the  slave-holder's  party  in  the 
national  councils  would  be  assured,  and  the  eyes  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  entire  country  were  turned  toward  the  Prairie 
State  with  anxious  looks.  Missouri  had  been  thus  secured, 
would  the  effort  be  successful  in  Illinois  ?  The  aspects  of  the 
conflict  in  the  State  were  most  extraordinary.  The  popular 
interest  was  confined  to  neither  age,  sex,  nor  color — even  the 
women  and  children  entering  earnestly  the  arena  of  party- 
strife.  Other  elections  had  aroused  more  or  less  activity  and 
rancour,  but  into  this  campaign  was  infused  a  spirit  of  bitter- 
ness, if  not  of  malignity  which  only  the  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  could  have  generated.  The  press  fairly  sparkled  with 
the  sharpest  of  editorials,  which  were  eagerly  and  sometimes 
laboriously  perused  by  the  light  of  "dip-candles"  in  border 
log-cabins.  The  hustings  were  occupied  by  the  most  eloquent 
speakers  either  side  could  produce;  while  the  rude  pulpit  of 
those  days,  especially  on  the  side  of  freedom,  counting  it  as 
a  christian  virtue,  thundered  its  anathemas  against  those  who 
would  pollute  the  soil  by  the  spread  of  human  slavery  over 
the  Prairie  State.     When  reason  failed  to  convince,  resort  was 


THE   CONTEST   TO   MAKE   ILLINOIS   A   SLAVE-STATE.     32 1 

not  infrequently  had  to  personal  conflicts,  and  indeed  every 
avenue  through  which  the  public  mind  might  be  reached  and 
influenced  was  employed. 

The  advocates  of  the  convention  undoubtedly  had  the  advan- 
tage in  the  number,  official  position,  and  personal  and  political 
influence  of  their  leaders.  Among  these  were  Jesse  B.  Thomas, 
John  McLean,  Elias  Kent  Kane,  John  M.  Robinson,  Samuel 
McRoberts,  and  Richard  M.  Young,  the  former  of  whom  then, 
and  each  of  the  latter  subsequently,  filled  the  office  of  United- 
States  senator;  Joseph  Phillips,  late  chief-justice,  John  Reyn- 
olds, and  Thomas  C.  Browne  of  the  supreme  court,  A.  F. 
Hubbard,  then,  and  Wm.  Kinney,  and  Zadoc  Casey,  afterward 
lieutenant-governors  of  the  State,  Gen.  Willis  Hargrave,  Col. 
A.  P.  Field,  T.  W.  Smith,  afterward  judge  of  the  supreme 
court,  Chief-Justice  Thomas  Reynolds,  E.  J.  West,  and  ex-Gov. 
Bond. 

At  the  head  of  the  resolute  opposition  was  Gov.  Coles.  He 
had  cheerfully  given  the  salary  of  his  entire  term,  $4000,  to  the 
cause,  and  had  thrown  into  the  scale  the  weight  of  his  official  in- 
fluence and  personal  ability.  His  efforts  were  untiring,  covering 
not  only  every  county  in  the  State,  but  even  reaching  to  leading 
statesmen  in  other  commonwealths,  who  were  induced  to  con- 
tribute their  aid  by  both  tongue  and  pen.  Next  to  the  governor, 
the  man  who  labored  in  most  hearty  cooperation  with  him  to 
stem  the  onslaught  of  slavery,  and  who  perhaps  accomplished 
better  results  than  any  other  man  in  the  State  was  the  Rev.  John 
Mason  Peck,  a  Baptist  minister  of  Rock  Springs  in  St.  Clair 
County.  A  native  of  Connecticut,  he  had  come  west  in  1817 
as  a  missionary.  To  a  natural  intelligence,  far  above  the  aver- 
age, he  joined  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education,  and  had 
been  a  tireless  worker  in  the  organization  of  churches,  Sunday- 
schools,  Bible  and  temperance  societies  throughout  the  State. 
When  the  question  of  calling  a  convention,  which  involved  the 
possibility  of  making  Illinois  a  slave-state,  was  presented,  it 
aroused  the  deepest  feelings  of  his  nature.  He  entered  the 
contest  with  an  enthusiasm,  intense  energy,  and  holy  zeal  for 
freedom  equalled  only  by  his  love  for  the  success  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  Fearlessly,  with  unsurpassed  ability,  and  skill  in 
argument,  he  denounced  slavery  as  a  crime  against  God  and 
21 


322  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

man.  In  log-churches,  in  private  houses,  where  meetings  were 
frequently  held,  everywhere,  by  day  and  by  night,  he  pro- 
claimed the  right  of  liberty,  and  the  glory  of  a  free- state. 
Especially  was  he  influential  with  his  brother  preachers,  many 
of  whom  he  fired  with  an  ardent  kindred  to  that  which  ani- 
mated his  own  breast,  and  among  whom  a  most  effective  organi- 
zation was  perfected.  Though  one  of  the  despised  Yankees, 
he  comported  himself  with  such  shrewdness  and  tact  as  to 
escape  the  odium  which  in  those  days  attached  to  anyone  from 
New  England.  He  lived  long  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  efficient 
and  self-denying  labors. 

The  ablest  man  on  the  stump  against  the  convention  was  D. 
P.  Cook,  who  was  more  than  a  match  for  any  speaker  that 
could  be  brought  against  him.  When  he  returned  from  Wash- 
ington in  1824,  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  own 
campaign  against  ex-Gov.  Bond  for  congress,  and  the  defeat 
of  the  convention  resolution.  He  was  a  host  within  himself, 
and  brought  his  personal  influence  to  bear  to  secure  the  support 
of  others. 

The  fact  that  the  advocates  of  a  change  in  the  organic  law 
had  the  advantage  of  the  active  cooperation  of  the  leading 
politicians  of  the  State  was  in  some  measure  counterbalanced 
by  the  circumstance  that  the  anti-slavery  party  had  rallied 
to  its  standard  the  best  literary  talent  of  the  commonwealth. 
In  this  sort  of  conflict  "the  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword," 
and  this  inoffensive-looking  implement  was  wielded  with  potent 
effect.  Among  those  who  were  most  active  in  its  use,  and 
who  also  bore  the  brunt  of  battle  in  other  ways,  were  Samuel 
D.  Lockwood,  Geo.  Forquer,  Morris  Birkbeck,  Geo.  Churchill, 
Thomas  Mather,  and  Rev.  Thomas  Lippincott.  The  writings 
of  Mr.  Birkbeck  especially  were  of  marked  power.  He  was  a 
regular  contributor  to  the  papers,  and  published  a  pamphlet 
which  is  said  to  have  contained  the  best  arguments  presented 
against  slavery.  Robert  Vaux,  the  noted  quaker  philanthropist 
of  Philadelphia  also  lent  his  able  pen,  as  did  also  William  H. 
Crawford. 

Gov.  Edwards  had  been  claimed  by  both  sides  of  the  contro- 
versy. He  was  then  a  slave-holder,  and  had  voted  while  in 
congress  for  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave-state,  while 


VERDICT   OF   THE   PEOPLE.  323 

his  able  son-in-law,  Cook,  had  voted  against  it  If  the  ex- 
governor  wrote  "the  scratch  of  a  pen"  to  indicate  on  which 
side  he  stood  it  has  not  been  published  among  his  voluminous 
papers.  Sidney  Breese  was  another  of  those  who  held  slaves 
at  Kaskaskia,  and  who  failed  to  leave  any  record  showing  which 
side  of  this  question  he  favored. 

The  settlement  of  Missouri  at  this  time  by  wealthy  and 
respectable  immigrants  from  the  South,  passing  through  Illinois 
with  their  flocks  and  herds  and  slaves  and  their  well-equipped 
wagons  drawn  by  fine  horses,  who  would  doubtless,  as  it  was 
asserted,  remain  in  Illinois  but  for  the  constitutional  anti-slavery 
restriction,  was  used  as  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  its  abro- 
gation.* 

Another  argument,  shrewdly  advanced  in  favor  of  the  con- 
vention was,  that  the  constitution  required  amendment  in  other 
respects,  and  that  the  calling  of  a  convention  need  not  neces- 
sarily result  in  making  Illinois  a  slave-state.  Quite  a  number  of 
votes  were  undoubtedly  gained  for  the  call  by  this  considera- 
tion, from  the  anti-slavery  ranks.  But  as  the  time  for  the 
election  drew  near  the  mask  of  the  pro-conventionists  was 
dropped,  and  the  real  issue  became  more  and  more  distinctly 
defined. 

At  length  arrived  the  eventful  day  which  was  to  settle  a 
question  more  momentous  to  the  citizens  of  Illinois  and  to 
their  posterity  than  any  that  had  yet  been  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  the  State.  With  the  closing  of  the  polls  on  the  first 
Monday  in  August  (2),  1824,  terminated  a  struggle  that  for  eigh- 
teen months  had  absorbingly  engrossed  the  mind  of  every 
citizen  and  had  awakened  a  partisan  bitterness  theretofore 
unknown.  It  was  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  both  parties  saw 
the  sun  set  on  the  day  which  was  to  conclude  a  controversy 
wearisome  through  its  very  intensity. 

How  overwhelming  was  the  majority  against  the  convention, 

*  Even  the  poor  immigrant  from  the  slave-states,  with  his  one  old  horse  hitched  to 
a  broken-down  wagon,  in  which  was  contained  his  worldly  all,  with  his  "old  woman" 
and  tow-headed  children,  and  not  enough  "plunder"  to  buy  a  cat — who  never  owned 
a  slave,  nor  expected  to  be  able  to  do  so,  would  talk  in  the  same  way.  Judge  Gil- 
lespie speaks  of  one  of  these  on  his  way  to  Missouri,  who,  upon  being  asked  why  he 
did  not  stop  in  Illinois,  answered,  "  well  sir,  your  sile  is  mighty  fartil,  but  a  man 
can't  own  niggers  here;  gol  durn  you. " 


324 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


is  shown  by  the  table  given  below.*  The  battle  had  been 
fought  and  won. 

That  the  election  was  on  the  whole  a  fair  one  was  generally 
conceded.  Some  apprehension  had  been  felt  lest  voters  from 
the  states  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri  might  be  colonized  in 
adjoining  districts,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  was 
attempted.  The  full  vote  was  brought  out,  the  aggregate  poll 
being  47  more  than  that  cast  for  congressman.  As  compared 
with  that  of  the  presidential  election  which  followed,  there  was 
the  startling  falling  off  in  the  latter  of  7080  votes. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  table  that  if  left  to  the  first-settled 
counties  of  the  State  the  convention  would  have  been  called — 
the  majority  against  it  having  been  given  in  the  seven  northern 
counties  last  organized,  namely,  Bond,  Edgar,  Sangamon,  Mor- 
gan, Pike,  Greene,  and  Fulton.  And  it  may  be  further  remarked 
that  so  involved  and  identified  did  the  question  of  slavery 
subsequently  become  with  that  of  the  success  of  a  political 
party,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  there  ever  was  a  time  after  this 
election  up  to  the  period  of  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States 
in  1 860-1,  when  these  seven  counties  would  have  given  so 
large  a  majority,  if  any,  against  making  Illinois  a  slave-state. 

It  is  also  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  governor  and  the  brill- 
iant congressman  who  cooperated  with  him,  as  well  as  ten  out 


*  Official  vote  (Aug.  2,  1824), 

correctec 

— first  time  printed- 

—by  counties, 

for  an 

against  the  conven 

tion  to  alter 

or  amenc 

the  constitution: 

COUNTIES. 

FOR. 

AGAINST. 

COUNTIES. 

FOR.        AGAINST. 

Alexander,     - 

75 

51 

Madison, 

351 

563 

Bond, 

63 

24O 

Marion, 

45 

52 

Clark, 

3i 

Il6 

Montgomery, 

74 

90 

Crawford, 

134 

262 

Monroe, 

-      141 

196 

Edgar, 

3 

234 

Morgan,  - 

42 

432 

Edwards, 

189 

391 

Pike, 

19 

165 

Fayette, 

■       125 

121 

Pope, 

273 

124 

Franklin, 

170 

"3 

Randolph, 

-      357 

284 

Fulton, 

5 

60 

Sangamon, 

153 

722 

Gallatin, 

597 

133 

St.  Clair, 

-      40S 

506 

Greene, 

164 

379 

Union, 

213 

240 

Hamilton, 

173 

85 

Washington, 

112 

173 

Jackson, 

180 

93 

Wayne,    - 

189 

in 

Jefferson, 

99 

43 

White, 

-      355 

326 

Johnson, 

74 

74 

Totals, 

4972 

6640 

Lawrence, 

i58 

261 

DECISIONS   OF   THE   COURTS.  325 

of  the  eighteen  members  of  the  legislature  who  voted  and 
worked  against  the  convention  resolution  were  from  slave- 
holding  states.* 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  an  equally  singular  fact  that  at  least 
four  of  the  leading  spirits  who  were  willing  to  make  Illinois  a 
slave-state  and  who  were  the  most  active  among  the  advocates 
for  a  convention,  were  from  free-states,  namely,  Elias  Kent 
Kane,  Judge  T.  W.  Smith,  both  from  New  York,  and  John  and 
Thomas  Reynolds,  of  Irish  parentage,  born  in  Pennsylvania.*!* 

This  was  also  a  presidential  year,  and  while  the  anti-conven- 
tion party  was  firmly  united  on  that  question,  its  members 
differed  widely  on  all  others  especially  in  their  preferences  for 
president.  The  convention  men  on  the  other  hand  generally 
enrolled  themselves  under  the  banner  of  Andrew  Jackson.    The 

*  The  names  of  the  latter  are  as  follows:  Messrs.  Moore,  (Ga. );  Frazier,  Cairnes, 
and  Lowrey,  (Ky. );  Kinkead,  McGahey,  Parker,  and  Bankson,  (Tenn.);  Ogle,  (Va. ); 
and  Sims,  (S.  C. ). 

t  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader  to  show  what  have  been  the  decisions 
of  the  courts  on  the  question  of  slavery  in  Illinois.  In  the  case  of  Winney  vs.  White- 
side (1  Mo.  427)  the  supreme  court  of  Missouri,  in  1827  held,  that  a  negro  woman 
who  had  been  taken  into  the  Illinois  Territory  since  the  adoption  of  the  Ordinance 
of  1787  by  her  owner,  who  resided  there  four  years,  thereby  became  free,  and  upon 
being  afterward  taken  to  Missouri  was  not  again  remitted  to  slavery;  and  that  con- 
gress under  the  confederation  had  the  power  to  pass  the  ordinance. 

In  another  case  (1  Mo.,  725)  the  same  court  held  that  when  the  mother  of  the 
plaintiff  had  been  held  as  a  slave  in  Virginia,  and  taken  to  Illinois  before  the 
adoption  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  and  held  in  slavery  there  before  and  after  its 
passage,  the  plaintiff  being  born  there  after  its  passage  was  free. 

In  the  case  of  Phoebe  vs.  Jarrot  (Breese's  "Illinois  Reports,"  p.  268),  it  was 
decided  that  while  that  portion  of  the  Indenture  Law  permitting  the  owner  to  bring 
his  slaves  into  the  Territory  and  hold  them  as  such  was  void,  that  the  other  section 
providing  for  their  indenture  was  valid,  because  the  act  of  congress  accepting  the 
constitution  of  1818,  which  recognized  that  kind  of  contracts,  abrogated  so  much  of 
the  Ordinance  of  1787  as  was  repugnant  to  it. 

The  supreme  court  of  Louisiana  (20  Martin,  699),  1830,  held  that  the  deed  of 
cession  by  Virginia  did  not  deprive  congress  of  the  power  to  pass  the  sixth  article 
of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  that  this  ordinance  fixed  forever  the  character  of 
the  population  over  which  it  extended,  and  that  a  negro  born  in  the  Northwest 
Territory  since  the  ordinance  was  free. 

It  was  by  virtue  of  the  provision  of  the  constitution  of  1818  relating  to  indent- 
ured and  registered  slaves,  and  this  alone,  that  the  supreme  court  of  this  State 
held  in  the  cases  of  Nance  vs.  Howard,  Breese,  p.  187;  Phoebe  vs.  Day,  Breese, 
p.  207;  Boon  vs.  Juliet,  1  Scammon,  p.  258;  Choisser  vs.  Borders,  4  Scammon,  p. 
341,  that  colored  persons  could  be  held  to  a  specific  performance  of  their  contracts 
and  indentures  under  the  act  of  Sept.  17,  1807,  of  the  Indiana  Territory  (reenacted 


326  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

falling  off  in  the  number  of  votes  polled  at  the  presidential  elec- 
tion, however,  was  surprising,  the  whole  number  being  only  4707 
as  against  1 1,787,  cast  at  the  previous  general  election  in  August. 
These  were  divided  among  the  several  candidates  as  follows: 
for  John  Quincy  Adams  1541,  Andrew  Jackson  1273,  Henry 
Clay  1046,  Clay  and  Jackson,  generally  counted  for  the  latter 
629,  William  H.  Crawford  218*  There  was  no  choice  of  presi- 
dent by  the  people  at  this  election,  and  the  United-States 
house  of  representatives  elected  Mr.  Adams,  for  whom  the  vote 
of  Illinois  was  cast  by  Mr.  Cook.  The  latter  was  the  only 
representative  in  congress  from  the  State  at  this  time,  having 
been  again  successful  at  the  August  election  in  his  candidacy 
against  Shadrach  Bond  by  3016  majority. 

in  Illinois  in  1809-12),  and  that  without  that  constitutional  provision  they  would 
be  entitled  to  their  freedom,  for  the  reason  that  the  provisions  of  that  act  were 
void  as  being  repugnant  to  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  Jarrott  vs.  Jarrott,  2  Gilles- 
pie, 1,  1843. 

In  the  last -cited  case  it  was  held  that  "the  Ordinance  of  1787  from  the  time 
of  its  first  enactment  became  and  has  continued  to  be  an  organic  regulation  for 
the  government  of  the  whole  Northwest  Territory,  of  which  Illinois  forms  a  part, 
and  still  remains  of  binding  influence,  except  only  in  such  instances  as  it  may  have 
been  repealed  or  abrogated  by  the  parties  to  the  compact;"  and  that  the  descend- 
ants of  the  slaves  of  the  old  French  settlers  born  since  the  adoption  of  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787,  and  before  or  since  the  constitution  of  Illinois  was  adopted,  can  not 
be  held  in  slavery  in  the  State.  It  was  also  held  that  slaves  were  legally  held  in 
Illinois  prior  to  the  adoption  of  said  ordinance. 

The  supreme  court  at  this  time  was  composed  of  the  following  judges:  Wilson, 
Lockwood,  Browne,  Scates,  Young,  Shields,  Thomas,  and  Treat;  the  last  three  of 
whom  dissented  from  the  opinion. 

*  Edwards'  "  Illinois. "  265. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

The  Fourth  General  Assembly— LaFayette's  Visit  to  Illi- 
nois— Lieut.-Gov.  Hubbard. 

THE  fourth  general  assembly  was  convened  by  proclamation 
of  the  governor,  November  15,  1824,  three  weeks  prior 
to  the  time  fixed  by  the  constitution,  for  the  purpose 
of  remedying  a  defect  in  the  law  providing  for  returns  of  the 
vote  for  presidential  electors.  The  first  State-house  having 
been  destroyed  by  fire,  December  9,  1823,  a  new  brick-build- 
ing, much  more  roomy  and  convenient,  had  been  constructed 
at  a  cost  of  $12,38 1.50,*  and  was  now  occupied  for  the  first  time. 

Thomas  Mather  was  elected  speaker  of  the  house,  and  Chas. 
Dunn,  clerk.  Emanuel  J.  West  was  elected  secretary  of  the 
senate,  and  Benjamin  Ogle  sergeant-at-arms. 

Joseph  Duncan  and  Thomas  Carlin  were  among  the  new 
senators.  In  the  house,  the  following  members  were  reelected; 
Curtis  Blackman,  Zadoc  Casey,  George  Churchill,  Nicholas 
Hansen,  George  R.  Logan,  Thomas  Mather,  Risdon  Moore, 
David  McGahey,  James  A.  Whiteside,  and  Conrad  Will. 
Among  the  new  members  were  Elias  Kent  Kane,  David  Black- 
well,  William  B.  Archer,  and  George  Forquer. 

The  law  regulating  the  returns  of  votes  cast  for  electors,  hav- 
ing been  amended,  the  next  subject  which  engrossed  the  atten- 
tion of  the  legislature,  was  the  election  of  two  United-States 
senators;  one  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation 
of  Senator  Edwards  the  previous  March,  whose  term  expired 
March  3,  1825,  and  the  other  for  the  full  term  beginning  at 
that  date.  Ex-Gov.  Edwards,  who  had  resigned  to  accept  the 
appointment  of  minister  to  Mexico,  and  becoming  soon  after 
involved  in  an  unfortunate  quarrel  with  William  H.  Crawford, 
then  secretary  of  the  treasury,  had  resigned  that  position  also, 
having  returned  home,  was  now  a  candidate  to  fill  out  the 
remainder  of  his  term.  He  was  opposed  by  John  McLean, 
William  M.  Alexander,  and  Nathaniel  Pope.     The  contest  was 

*  Toward  which  sum  the  citizens  of  Vandalia  had  contributed  $3000. 

327 


328  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

close,  the  first  ballot  standing  twenty-two  votes  for  McLean, 
eighteen  for  Edwards,  nine  for  Alexander,  and  three  for  Pope. 
On  the  third  ballot  nearly  all  the  supporters  of  Alexander  went 
over  to  McLean,  giving  him  thirty-one  votes,  insuring  his  elec- 
tion, to  nineteen  for  Edwards  and  two  for  Pope.  This  was  on 
Nov.  23,  and  on  the  30th,  the  two  houses  again  met  in  joint  ses- 
sion to  choose  the  senator  for  the  full  term.  McLean  was  again  a 
candidate,  as  were  also  Elias  Kent  Kane,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood, 
Edward  Coles,  and  Thomas  Sloo,  jr.  On  the  first  ballot  the 
vote  stood  for  McLean  13,  Kane  13,  Lockwood  18,  Coles  4, 
Sloo  4.  j£ane  was  elected  on  the  tenth  ballot  which  stood 
Kane  28,  Lockwood  21,  Coles  1,  Sloo  2. 

The  result  in  both  cases  was  inexplicable.  An  anti-conven- 
tion legislature  had  elevated  to  the  highest  office  within  their 
gift,  two  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  whom  they  had 
most  bitterly  fought  at  the  polls  and  overwhelmingly  defeated; 
and  this  too  in  preference  to  their  own  able  and  deserving  co- 
workers, Coles  and  Lockwood. 

Elias  Kent  Kane,  the  successful  candidate  for  the  long  term, 
was  the  youngest  son  of  Capt.  John  Kane,  a  sailor  by  profes- 
sion, who  during  the  Revolution  emigrated  from  Ireland  to 
New  York,  where  Elias  was  born  June  7,  1786.  His  brother 
John  K.,  was  the  father  of  the  celebrated  explorer,  Elisha  Kent 
Kane.  Elias  Kent  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  and  after 
reading  law  decided  to  locate  in  the  West;  stopping  first  for  a 
time  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  he  finally  determined  to  settle  per- 
manently in  Illinois  and  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  in  18 14,  where 
he  soon  after  married  Felicita  Peltia,  a  descendant  of  an  old 
French  family.  He  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  early  distinguished 
himself  as  such,  as  well  as  a  successful  politician. 

These  elections  having  been  thus  disposed  of,  the  perennial 
question  of  the  composition  of  the  courts  next  claimed  the 
attention  of  the  legislature,  which  proceeded  thoroughly  to  re- 
organize the  judicial  system  of  the  State.  Five  circuit-judge- 
ships  were  created  whose  incumbents  were  required  to  hold  the 
circuit-courts,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  election  of  four 
supreme-court  judges  who  were  to  hold  two  sessions  of  that 
court  each  year  at  the  capital. 

William  Wilson  was  elected  chief- justice  of  the  supreme 


VISIT   OF   GEN.    LAFAYETTE.  329 

court,  and  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  and 
Theophilus  W.  Smith,  associates;  John  York  Sawyer,  Samuel 
McRoberts,  Richard  M.  Young,  James  Hall,  and  James  O. 
Wattles,  were  elected  circuit-judges.  The  anti  -  convention 
party  again  exhibited  a  generous  magnanimity  in  supporting 
from  among  the  candidates  for  judicial  honors  some  of  those 
who  had  but  lately  been  their  most  strenuous  opponents. 

The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  were  directed  to  prepare  a 
revision  of  the  laws  and  report  at  the  next  session. 

So  little  was  the  governor  in  accord  with  the  legislature  that 
but  few  of  the  measures  recommended  by  him  were  adopted. 
There  was,  however,  one  notable  exception,  namely,  the  law 
introduced  by  Joseph  Duncan  relating  to  free-schools,  whose 
scope  will  be  more  particularly  explained  and  commented  upon 
in  another  place. 

An  interesting  incident  during  the  administration  of  Gov. 
Coles  was  the  visit  of  Gen.  Lafayette  to  the  State  in  1825. 
The  governor  had  formed  the  acquaintance  of  the  distinguished 
French  general  in  Paris,  and  while  the  latter  was  making  his 
grand  tour  in  the  United  States  he  was  easily  persuaded  to 
include  Illinois  among  the  localities  to  be  visited.  The  legisla- 
ture had  extended  the  invitation  and  had  been  liberal  in  making 
provision  for  defraying  the  expense  of  the  entertainment,  which, 
as  subsequently  ascertained,  amounted  to  $6473,  about  one- 
third  of  the  tax-receipts  of  the  State  treasury  for  that  year. 

A  large  delegation  from  Missouri  accompanied  the  general 
from  St.  Louis  to  Kaskaskia,  where  the  reception  was  held. 
The  steamer  Natchez,  on  which  the  trip  was  made,  was  gaily 
decorated  for  the  occasion,  and  the  landing  was  effected  amid 
the  strains  of  martial  music  and  the  booming  of  cannon.  Gov. 
Coles  delivered  the  address  of  welcome,  to  which  a  feeling 
response  was  made  in  very  good  English  by  the  honored  guest. 
A  reception  followed  which  was  held  at  the  residence  of  Gen. 
John  Edgar,  and  after  this  came  a  sumptuous  dinner  at  the 
tavern  of  Col.  Sweet;  the  entertainment  concluding  with  a 
grand  ball  at  the  stone  mansion  of  William  Morrison,  in  which 
all  participated. 

Gov.  Coles  accompanied  Lafayette  to  Nashville,  on  a  boat 
chartered  by  the   State,  and  on   the  return  trip,  a  stop  was 


330  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

made  at  Shawneetown,  where  an  address  of  welcome  was 
delivered  by  Judge  James  Hall.  The  General  expressed  him- 
self as  much  pleased  with  his  visit  to  Illinois,  whose  citizens 
were  indeed  among  the  foremost  in  showing  honor  to  the  man 
whom  the  entire  Nation  regarded  as  entitled  to  her  gratitude 
and  esteem  for  the  glorious  part  he  had  borne  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution. 

In  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the  general  assembly  request- 
ing that  it  be  called  together  for  the  purpose  of  enacting  an 
apportionment  law  under  the  census  of  1825,  Lieut.-Gov. 
Hubbard,  in  the  absence  of  the  governor  from  the  State,  issued 
his  proclamation  convening  the  body,  Jan.  2,  1826.  Samuel 
Smith  and  Gabriel  Jones  had  been  elected  in  Randolph  County 
to  succeed  E.  K.  Kane  and  Thomas  Mather,  resigned,  and 
Thomas  James  in  Monroe  County,  vice  George  Forquer,  re- 
signed. David  Blackwell  was  elected  speaker  of  the  house  in 
place  of  Col.  Mather.  This  special  session  was  characterized 
by  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  mutual  concession,  little  change 
being  made  in  existing  laws  and  but  few  new  ones  being  passed 
aside  from  that  of  the  apportionment.     It  adjourned  Jan.  28. 

In  closing  the  narrative  of  Gov.  Coles'  administration,  it  may 
be  not  unjustly  observed  that  he  was  the  least  popular  of  all 
those  who  have  occupied  the  executive  chair  in  this  State.  Be- 
ing a  bachelor,  he  was  without  that  social  influence  and  standing 
which  are  so  frequently  given  by  family  ties  and  connections. 
Without  a  cohesive  local  party,  he  was  unable  to  accomplish 
those  political  results  which  are  effected  only  through  party 
organization.  In  national  affairs  he  had  managed  to  antago- 
nize many  of  those  who  had  acknowledged  him  as  their  leader 
on  the  question  of  calling  a  convention — his  choice  for  president, 
in  1824,  being  William  H.  Crawford,  the  least  popular  in  this 
State  of  all  the  candidates.  Gov.  Coles  had  a  plain,  blunt  way 
of  springing  his  measures  upon  the  legislature  without  consult- 
ing the  public  pulse,  or  making  any  effort  to  conciliate  well- 
recognized  opposition.  Personally  the  antagonism  to  him  was 
so  great  that  every  means  was  employed  to  annoy  and  humili- 
ate him.  One  of  the  most  contemptible  of  these  measures, 
prompted  by  personal  malice  and  prejudice,  was  the  suit 
brought  against  him  under  the  law  of  18 19,  to  recover  a  penalty 


SUITS   AGAINST   THE   GOVERNOR.  331 

of  $200  for  each  negro  emancipated  by  him  and  brought  into 
the  State,  he  having  failed  to  give  security  that  he  or  she  would 
not  become  a  county  charge;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the 
well-known  fact  that  these  people  had  been  industrious,  sober, 
correct  in  their  habits  and  entirely  self-sustaining.  The  prose- 
cution was  conducted  with  persistence  and  malignity,  and  a 
verdict  of  $2000  was  obtained  against  him.  Before  any 
judgment  was  rendered,  the  legislature  released  him  from  the 
penalty;  but  when  the  act  was  pleaded  in  bar  of  the  judgment, 
Samuel  McRoberts,  the  circuit-judge,  declared  it  void  and 
unconstitutional,  which  decision,  however,  the  supreme  court 
promptly  reversed. 

Gov.  Coles  having  published  some  strictures  upon  the  rulings 
of  McRoberts  in  the  case,  that  judge  went  before  the  grand- 
jury  of  Madison  County  and  secured  his  indictment  for  libel, 
and  as  though  that  were  not  likely  to  prove  sufficiently  annoy- 
ing, commenced  a  civil  suit  againt  him  for  $5000  damages.  As 
the  time  approached  for  the  trial  and  the  facts  became  better 
known,  the  plaintiff  concluded  to  dismiss  the  case  and,  at  his 
suggestion  it  is  stated,  a  nolle  prosequi  was  entered  in  the 
criminal  case,  against  the  protest  of  the  defendant  who  was 
ready  and  anxious  for  a  hearing. 

To  add  to  the  governor's  troubles,  about  this  time  he  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  by  fire,  two-thirds  of  all  the  buildings 
and  inclosures  on  his  farm,  together  with  about  200  apple-trees 
and  as  many  peach-trees.  Soon  after  this,  the  State-house 
having  been  burned  and  the  governor  refusing  for  good  reasons 
to  make  a  private  subscription  toward  the  erection  of  a  new 
building,  the  friends  of  the  project  vented  their  spleen  by 
inciting  a  mob  against  him,  which  paraded  the  streets  till  early 
dawn,  making  night  hideous  with  their  noise. 

The  pro -slavery  senate  of  the  fourth  general  assembly 
rejected  the  governor's  nomination  of  Morris  Birkbeck  to  the 
office  of  secretary  of  state — in  which  position  he  only  served 
three  months.  The  house  at  the  same  time  voted  down  a 
resolution  according  the  governor  the  privileges  of  the  floor. 
During  the  closing  days  of  the  session,  this  same  body,  whether 
as  a  compliment  to  the  governor  or  rebuke  of  the  senate,  or 
both,  can   not  now  be  determined,  adopted  a  resolution  by  a 


l$2  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

nearly  unanimous  vote,  thanking  Morris  Birkbeck  "for  the  able, 
impartial,  and  satisfactory  manner  in  which  he  had  discharged 
the  duties  of  the  office  of  secretary  of  state." 

Thus  harassed  by  malicious  law  suits,  the  victim  of  preju- 
dices as  unreasoning  as  they  were  unjust,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  Gov.  Coles'  occupancy  of  the  gubernatorial  chair  was  as 
painful  as  it  was  embarrassing,  and  that  when  the  time  came  he 
yielded  up  the  sceptre  of  State  without  regret. 

No  governor  of  the  State  ever  gave  closer  personal  attention 
to  the  details  of  the  office  than  Gov.  Coles.  He  wrote  his  own 
State-papers,  and  all  of  his  official  correspondence  was  in  his 
own  handwriting — even  the  copies  of  his  letters  being  made  by 
himself.  He  was  not  a  public  speaker,  but  as  a  writer  he  was 
clear  and  concise,  stating  his  propositions  tersely  and  being 
happy  in  the  elucidation  of  his  ideas.  In  recalling  the  stormy 
scenes  of  his  administration,  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  was 
the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  cause 
of  freedom,  and  that  to  him  are  the  people  most  indebted  for 
"saving  the  State  then  and  forever  from  the  black  curse 
of  African  slavery."  While  monuments  have  been  erected  to 
the  memory  of  other  governors,  who  on  this  question  were  on 
the  wrong  side,  is  it  not  time  that  some  expression  should  be 
made  in  honor  of  this  intrepid  champion  of  human  rights  at 
the  mention  of  whose  name  posterity  should  bow  its  head  in 
gratitude? 

At  the  close  of  his  term  he  retired  to  his  farm  near  Edwards- 
ville  and  devoted  himself  to  its  cultivation  and  improvement. 
He  was  fond  of  such  pursuits,  especially  that  of  horticulture, 
and  enjoys  the  honor  of  being  the  founder  of  the  first  agricul- 
tural society  in  the  State.* 

In  183 1,  supposing  that  the  asperities  of  his  gubernatorial 
career  had  been  forgotten,  upon  the  solicitation  of  many  friends 
he  consented  to  become  a  candidate  for  congress,  but  the  result 
showed  that  his  unpopularity  still  continued.  The  other  can- 
didates were  Joseph  Duncan  and  Sidney  Breese,  the  former 
of  whom  received  nearly  as  many  votes  as  both  of  his  competi- 
tors— the  ex-governor  bringing  up  the  rear. 

He  now  became  convinced   that  it  would    be  hopeless  for 

*  E.  B.  Washburne's  "  Sketch  of  Edward  Coles, "  245. 


RECEIPTS   AND   EXPENDITURES.  333 

him  to  seek  further  political  preferment  in  Illinois.  Having 
no  home-ties,  he  divided  his  time  between  his  former  resi- 
dence in  Virginia  and  traveling  in  eastern  cities.  Becoming 
attached  to  Philadelphia,  he  decided  to  make  that  city  his 
home,  and  thither  he  removed  in  the  autumn  of  1832.  There, 
on  Nov.  28,  1833,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sallie  Logan  Roberts. 
And  in  that  "city  of  brotherly  love,"  possessed  of  an  ample 
fortune,  surrounded  by  an  interesting  family  and  sympathetic 
friends,  he  passed  the  residue  of  his  days. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  State,  as  a  result  of  previous 
legislation  and  political  excitement,  had  steadily  grown  from 
bad  to  worse  during  Gov.  Coles'  administration.  The  public 
expenditures  had  nominally  increased  threefold  by  reason 
of  the  depreciation  of  the  State-Bank  paper.  Besides  this, 
there  had  been  the  extraordinary  expenses  of  the  additional 
judges,  special  session  of  the  general  assembly,  the  rebuilding 
of  the  State-house,  taking  the  census,  and  the  visit  of  Gen. 
Lafayette, 

As   near  as   can   be  ascertained   the   receipts   of  the   State- 
treasury  for  the  years  1823  and   1824  were        -         -       $81,966 
Amount  of  warrants  paid         ______     79,868 

Amount  outstanding  not    known. 

Receipts  for  1825  and  1826  -  $93,880 

Amount  of  warrants  paid        -----   111,612 
Amount  outstanding    ------         34,015 

No  history  of  Gov.  Coles'  administration  would  be  complete 
which  failed  to  mention  the  part  taken  therein  by  the 
lieutenant-governor.  The  name  of  this  shining  light  in  the 
political  firmament  of  those  days,  was  Frederick  Adolphus 
Hubbard,  and  Shawneetown  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being 
his  place  of  residence.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  lawyer  by 
profession,  of  the  kind  which  only  the  day  and  age  in  which 
he  lived  could  have  produced.  It  is  related  of  him  that  while 
engaged  in  the  trial  of  a  lawsuit,  involving  the  title  to  a  certain 
mill  run  by  Joseph  Duncan,  the  opposing  counsel,  David  J. 
Baker,  then  recently  from  New  England,  had  quoted  from  John- 
son's "New -York  Reports,"  a  case  strongly  against  Hubbard's 
side.     Reading  reports  of  the  decision  of  courts  before  juries 


334  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

was  a  new  thing  in  those  days,  and  Hubbard  to  evade  the 
force  of  the  authority  as  a  precedent,  coolly  informed  the  jury 
that  Johnson  was  a  Yankee -clock  peddler,  who  had  been 
perambulating  up  and  down  the  country  gathering  up  rumors 
and  floating  stories  against  the  people  of  the  West  and  had 
them  published  in  a  book  under  the  name  of  "Johnson's 
Reports."  He  indignantly  repudiated  the  book  as  authority 
in  Illinois,  and  clinched  the  argument  by  adding,  "gentlemen 
of  the  jury,  I  am  sure  you  will  not  believe  anything  that  comes 
from  such  a  source;  and  besides  that,  what  did  this  Johnson 
know  about  Duncan's  mill  anyhow?"  Of  course  this  was  con- 
clusive with  the  jury,  and  Hubbard  gained  his  case.* 

Hubbard  had  been  a  member  of  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion, and  if  in  his  subsequent  career  he  did  not  attain  to  the 
utmost  height  of  his  "vaulting  ambition,"  the  failure  can  not  be 
ascribed  to  any  lack  of  effort  on  his  part.  At  one  time,  after 
repeated  and  annoying  application,  he  obtained  from  Gov. 
Edwards  what  he  had  reason  to  believe  was  a  recommendation 
for  a  certain  office.  The  more  he  thought  about  it  however, 
the  greater  became  his  distrust  of  the  contents  of  the  governor's 
letter.  In  speaking  of  it  afterward,  in  his  lisping  manner,  he 
said:  "contrary  to  the  uthage  amongst  gentlemen  he  thealed 
it  up,  and  contrary  to  the  uthage  amongst  gentlemen  I  broke 
it  open ;  and  what  do  you  think  I  found  ?  Instead  of  recom- 
mending me,  the  old  rathscal  abused  me  like  a  pick-pocket." 

At  the  time  when  Gov.  Edwards  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
United-States  senate  in  March,  1824,  it  happened  that  Hub- 
bard was  in  Washington  on  a  visit.  Seeing  as  he  supposed  a 
splendid  opportunity  to  advance  his  own  political  fortunes,  he 
prevailed  on  the  senator  to  allow  him  to  deliver  the  letter  of 
resignation  to  Gov.  Coles  in  person.  This  he  did,  adding  the 
gratuitous  statement  that  Edwards  and  Cook  had  selected  him 
as  the  bearer  of  the  document,  in  the  belief  that  the  governor 
would  either  resign,  in  which  case  he  (Hubbard)  as  his  succes- 
sor to  the  gubernatorial  power  would  appoint  him  (Coles)  to 
fill  the  unexpired  senatorial  term,  or  that  if  the  latter  preferred 
the  governor's  chair,  then  in  return  for  the  generous  proposal, 
Coles  should  appoint  no  less  a  person  than  the  aspiring  Fred- 

*  Joseph  Gillespie,  in  "Fergus'  Historical  Series,"  No.  13. 


LIEUT.-GOV.   HUBBARD.  2>3S- 

erick  Adolphus  Hubbard  to  represent  Illinois  in  the  councils 
of  the  Nation !  To  his  astonishment  and  chagrin,  Gov.  Coles 
was  by  no  means  favorably  impressed  with  the  suggestion. 
In  plain  words,  he  indignantly  and  contemptuously  spurned 
the  proposition,  informing  the  ambitious  politician  that  he 
declined  to  become  a  party  to  any  such  dishonorable  dickering. 
"Time  brings  its  revenges,"  and  Hubbard's  opportunity  to 
repay  what  he  considered  the  insolence  of  his  superior  came 
within  the  following  year.  In  1825,  the  governor  notified 
the  lieutenant-governor  that  circumstances  would  call  him  out 
of  the  State  for  a  short  period  after  July,  and  that  during  his 
absence  the  responsibilities  of  the  executive  office  would 
devolve  upon  the  latter.  In  the  autumn,  Gov.  Coles  returned, 
prepared  to  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties. 
But  Frederick  Adolphus  having  once  tasted  the  sweets  of  eleva- 
tion to  power,  was  loth  to  abandon  the  chair  whose  occu- 
pancy he  had  thoroughly  enjoyed.  Remembering  the  affront 
which  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Gov.  Coles,  his  brilliant 
legal  mind  believed  that  it  discerned  an  opportunity  for  gratify- 
ing at  once  his  ambition  and  his  desire  for  revenge.  He 
therefore,  under  that  clause  of  the  constitution  which  provided 
that  the  lieutenant-governor  should  exercise  all  the  power  and 
authority  appertaining  to  the  office  of  governor  in  case  of  the 
latter's  absence  from  the  State  "until  the  time  pointed  out  by 
the  constitution  for  the  election  of  governor  shall  arrive," 
claimed  that  Gov.  Coles  by  his  absence  had  forfeited  the  office, 
and  that  he,  the  lieutenant  -  governor,  had  fallen  heir  to  it. 
Finding  a  number  of  backers  among  those  with  whom  he 
fraternized,  he  determined  to  bring  the  question  before  the 
courts,  and  November  2,  he  appointed  W.  L.  D.  Ewing,  pay- 
master-general of  the  Illinois  militia,  and  requested  Secretary- 
of-State  George  Forquer  to  issue  the  commission  therefor^ 
which  he  refused  to  do.  Ewing,  as  had  been  arranged,  applied 
to  the  supreme  court  for  a  writ  of  mandamus  to  compel  the 
secretary  to  sign  and  issue  the  commission,  and  the  motion 
was  gravely  argued  at  great  length  before  a  full  bench.  Judges 
Lockwood  and  Smith  delivered  separate  opinions  in  the  case 
"of  great  learning  and  research,"  the  court  unanimously  reach- 
ing the  conclusion  that  there  was  no  ground  on  which  to  award 
the  writ. 


336  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Not  satisfied  with  this  judicial  determination  of  his  claim, 
the  redoubtable  lieutenant-governor  appealed  to  the  legislature, 
where  his  application  was  equally  unsuccessful,  there  being 
but  one  member  in  each  house  favorable  to  his  pretensions; 
although  Gov.  Coles  stated  that  there  would  doubtless  have 
been  more  had  there  been  a  reasonable  prospect  of  ousting 
himself.  The  wonder  now  is  that  a  claim  so  unfounded  should 
have  been  so  seriously  considered. 

The  occupancy  of  the  governor's  office  for  ten  weeks,  and 
the  proceedings  incident  to  his  contest  for  its  retention,  had 
made  the  name  of  Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard  quite  noted 
and  familiar  in  the  State,  of  which  celebrity,  construing  it  to 
mean  popularity  with  the  people,  he  was  not  slow  to  take 
advantage,  and  accordingly  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for 
governor  in  the  general  election  of  1826.  He  canvassed  the 
several  counties  and  made  speeches,  a  sample  of  which  is  given 
by  Gov.  Ford,  as  follows:  "Fellow-citizens,  I  offer  myself  as  a 
candidate  before  you  for  the  office  of  governor.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  be  a  man  of  extraordinary  talents;  nor  do  I  claim 
to  be  equal  to  Julius  Caesar  or  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  nor  yet  to 
be  as  great  a  man  as  my  opponent  Gov.  Edwards.  Nevertheless 
I  think  I  can  govern  you  pretty  well.  I  do  not  think  it  will 
require  a  very  extraordinary  smart  man  to  govern  you ;  for  to 
tell  you  the  truth,  fellow-citizens,  I  do  not  believe  you  will  be 
very  hard  to  govern,  no  how." 

The  number  of  votes  cast  for  him,  no  doubt  to  his  great 
surprise  and  dismay,  was  only  580,  and  the  smallness  of  his 
poll  was  unquestionably  the  first  convincing  intimation  he  had 
received  that  his  great  abilities  and  aptitude  for  office  were  so 
much  underrated  by  the  people. 

From  this  time  forward  the  name  of  the  Honorable  Adolphus 
disappears  from  the  page  of  history;  but  though  "lost  to  sight 
it  will  long  remain  to  memory  dear,"  as  an  illustration  of  that 
peculiar  class  of  men  which  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  primi- 
tive times  in  which  he  lived. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Election  and  Administration  of  Governor  Edwards — 
National  Politics — Fifth  and  Sixth  General  Assem- 
blies— The  Winnebago  Scare — Banks  and  Taxes — 
Close  of  the  Governor's  Career. 

THE  contest  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Ninian 
Edwards  to  the  office  of  governor  in  1826,  was  pro- 
tracted and  exciting.  The  extended  period  of  his  public 
service  had  rendered  him  a  conspicuous  character  in  both  the 
State  and  Nation.  As  a  United-States  senator  he  had  com- 
manded the  respect  and  esteem  of  the  most  distinguished 
statesmen  of  all  parties.  He  had  made  his  mark  as  a  writer 
and  speaker  high  upon  the  roll  of  fame.  But  the  strife  for 
office  in  his  State  in  which,  as  he  claimed,  he  had  not  been  able 
to  secure  a  fair  share  of  patronage  for  his  friends  whose 
interests  he  made  his  own,  and  the  general  political  turmoil 
which  existed  among  contending  factions  at  Washington  for 
the  ascendency  had  so  disgusted  and  annoyed  him  as  to  cause 
him  seriously  to  contemplate  retirement  from  public  life. 

When,  therefore,  President  Monroe  offered  him  the  mission 
to  Mexico,  he  willingly  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity 
thus  afforded  to  abandon  the  field  of  politics  for  that  of  diplo- 
macy. Having  resigned  his  seat  in  the  senate  and  drawn  his 
outfit,  on  his  way  home,  whence  he  expected  immediately  to 
proceed  on  his  mission,  his  attention  was  directed  to  a  state- 
ment made  by  William  H.  Crawford,  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
throwing  discredit  upon  the  testimony  which  Senator  Edwards 
had  lately  given  before  a  committee  of  the  lower  house 
of  congress.  He  construed  this  statement  as  an  imputation 
upon  his  standing  as  a  senator  and  his  character  as  a  man. 
Feeling  much  incensed,  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment  he 
forwarded  a  communication  to  the  house,  in  which  were 
contained  charges  against  Mr.  Crawford,  of  illegal  and  corrupt 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  his  department,  especially  in 
reference  to  the  deposit  of  public  funds  in  the  Edwardsville 
22  337 


33$  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

bank,  which  had  proved  a  defaulter  to  the  United  States  to 
the  amount  of  some  $40,000 — the  question  being  whether 
Edwards  had  notified  the  secretary  of  the  insolvent  condition 
of  the  bank — the  former  contending  that  he  had  done  so,  and 
the  latter  that  he  had  not. 

The  feeling  between  the  two  men  had  been  by  no  means 
friendly  for  some  time,  Senator  Edwards  having  been  opposed 
to  the  secretary's  candidacy  for  the  presidency.  Of  course  the 
presentation  of  the  charges  occasioned  a  fresh  outbreak 
of  hostilities  between  the  parties,  which  attracted  wide  atten- 
tion. The  fact  of  the  delay  in  formulating  the  charges  until 
.after  the  senator  had  left  the  capital,  as  if  he  were  afraid 
to  urge  them  personally,  excited  much  unfavorable  comment 
even  from  his  friends,  among  whom  was  Mr.  Adams,  who, 
although  himself  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  could  not 
justify  the  manner  in  which  the  charges  were  preferred. 

An  investigation  by  a  congressional  committee  being 
demanded,  Mr.  Edwards  was  notified  to  return  to  Washington 
and  make  good  his  accusations.  This  he  failed  to  do  in  time, 
and  the  committee  having  heard  the  evidence  as  presented, 
made  a  report,  in  which  the  conclusion  was  reached,  that 
while  many  of  the  matters  of  fact  as  stated  in  the  charges 
were  true  as  alleged,  "nothing  had  been  proved  to  impeach 
the  integrity  of  the  secretary,  or  to  bring  into  doubt  the  gen- 
eral correctness  and  ability  of  his  administration  of  the  public 
finances."  Neither  did  the  committee  find  any  reason  to 
condemn  Mr.  Edwards;  but  on  the  point  charged  against  him 
by  Mr.  Crawford,  he  was  clearly  acquitted,  it  appearing  that 
the  letter  testified  to  by  him  was  written  as  stated,  although 
"there  was  no  evidence  that  the  same  had  been  communicated 
to  the  secretary  of  the  treasury." 

This  report  was  claimed,  in  a  measure,  as  a  vindication  by 
both  parties,  and  so  far  as  congress  was  concerned,  there  the 
matter  rested.  But  it  was  otherwise  with  the  public,  which 
was  so  deeply  stirred  over  the  controversy,  that  Senator 
Edwards,  who  had  now  returned  to  Washington  in  an  enfeebled 
state  of  health,  felt  compelled  to  tender  his  resignation  as 
minister  to  Mexico,  rather  than  embarrass  the  administration 
by  giving  its  enemies  any  further  pretext  for  assailing  it  on 


THE  CRAWFORD  CONTROVERSY.  339 

his  account.  It  was  also  prompted,  as  claimed  by  his  friends, 
by  a  determination  to  remain  in  this  country  in  order  to  defend 
his  course  which  had  been  bitterly  assailed  at  home.  Both 
parties  to  the  quarrel  suffered,  however,  in  their  national  repu- 
tation to  a  greater  extent  than  either  of  them  could  have 
foreseen.  The  effect  of  the  blows  dealt  in  Illinois  by  the  ex- 
governor  against  his  foe,  in  the  presidential  election  of  1824, 
had  been  as  gratifying  to  the  senator  as  mortifying  to  the 
secretary.  The  effect  upon  himself  remained  to  be  discovered 
after  he  had  announced  himself  as  a  candidate  to  fill  out  his 
own  unexpired  term  in  the  United-States  senate.  This,  com- 
bined with  other  causes,  as  has  already  been  shown,  he  had 
found  equally  disastrous. 

Gov.  Edwards  was  now  for  the  first  time  in  over  twenty 
years  without  an  official  position.  He  had  served  the  State 
both  at  home  and  in  congress  with  great  faithfulness  and 
ability,  to  the  neglect  of  his  private  business  and  personal 
comfort.  His  stores  and  mills  had  been  left  to  the  manage- 
ment of  agents  who  had  not  always  proved  trustworthy,  and 
he  had  lost  $50,000  in  bad  debts  which  he  would  have  secured 
had  he  been  able  to  give  the  matter  his  personal  attention.^ 
With  a  depleted  purse  and  waning  popularity,  criticised  by  his 
friends  and  jeered  by  his  foes,  it  began  to  appear  as  though  the 
political  sun  of  his  life  were  about  to  set  in  a  bank  of  lowering 
clouds  through  which  no  ray  of  light  could  penetrate. 

He  soon  became  satisfied  however,  that  the  vote  of  the 
legislature  in  the  senatorial  contest  was  not  a  fair  exponent 
of  his  strength  as  a  leader,  and  did  not  accurately  reflect  his 
popularity  before  the  people.  He  therefore  decided  as  early 
as  June,  1825,  to  appeal  directly  to  his  fellow-citizens  for  an 
endorsement  of  his  public  career,  and  accordingly  announced 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  governor  in  1826. 

His  candidacy  was  at  first  received  with  such  favor  by  the 
rallying  of  old  friends  and  supporters  to  his  standard,  that  it 
seemed  doubtful  whether  the  opposition  could  find  any  one 
who  would  be  willing  to  stand  as  his  competitor  at  the  polls. 
But  as  time  went  on  the  old  feuds  in  which  the  governor  had 
been  engaged  broke  out  afresh  and  the  old  party-lines  were 

*  Vol.  50,  Autograph  Letters,  Chicago  Historical  Society. 


340  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

firmly  drawn  against  him.  To  lead  the  opposing  factions 
Thomas  C.  Sloo,  jr,  was  chosen.  He  was  a  successful  merchant 
at  Shawneetown,  and  had  served  four  years  acceptably  in  the 
State  senate.  He  had  not  taken  a  leading  part  in  politics, 
and  made  no  pretensions  as  a  public  speaker,  but  by  his 
agreeable  manners  and  admitted  integrity  had  made  many 
friends  throughout  the  State. 

In  the  campaign  which  now  followed,  Gov.  Edwards  showed 
that  whatever  other  faults  might  be  imputed  to  him,  he  was 
at  least  not  deficient  in  the  qualities  of  a  fighter.  In  his  first 
address  he  threw  down  the  gauntlet,  by  making  a  vigorous 
attack  upon  the  management  of  the  State  Bank,  and  of  the 
State  finances.  By  this  step  he  awakened  the  united  opposition, 
not  only  of  the  bank  officials,  but  of  all  those  members  of  the 
legislature  who  had  favored  the  then-existing  financial  policy 
of  the  State.  Not  content  with  this,  he  attacked  the  circuit- 
court  system  on  account  of  its  extravagant  costliness,  and 
also  the  existing  administration,  many  of  whose  friends  had 
also  been  his. 

Consulting  only  the  policy  marked  out  by  himself,  regardless 
whom  it  affected,  and  soliciting  aid  from  none  of  the  leading 
politicians,  he  conducted  his  campaign  with  the  boldness  of  a 
Jackson,  the  persistence  of  an  Adams,  and  the  eloquence  of  a 
Clay.  Despising  the  arts  of  the  demagogues  of  those  days — 
a  species  by  no  means  extinct — who  went  about  electioneering 
in  old  and  shabby  clothes  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the 
poorer  classes;  who  drank  whisky  with  the  crowd  and  went 
unshaven  and  unshorn,  he,  on  the  contrary,  arrayed  himself  in 
the  style  of  an  old-fashioned  gentleman,  in  his  broadcloth  coat, 
ruffled  shirt  and  high-topped  boots,  and  traveled  over  the  State 
in  his  carriage  or  on  horseback  attended  by  his  colored  servant, 
notwithstanding  the  anti-slavery  prejudices  engendered  by  the 
recent  agitation. 

The  people,  whom  it  was  supposed  would  be  driven  away  by 
his  aristocratic  appearance,  were  really  attracted  to  him  and 
claimed  it  an  honor  to  have  the  privilege  of  supporting  "such 
a  high-toned,  elegant  old  gentleman."  His  campaign  speeches, 
if  at  times  somewhat  verbose  and  stilted,  contained  many  tell- 
ing points  on  the  subject  of  government  and  reform,  and  were 
effectively  delivered. 


CANVASS    FOR   GOVERNOR.  34 1 

• 

Replying  to  the  charge  that  he  was  becoming  too  advanced 
in  years  to  hold  office,  he  said,  "there  are  many  things  both  in 
the  moral  and  physical  world,  that  grow  better  as  time  waneth: 
old  whisky,  old  wine,  old  bacon,  old  servants,  old  acquaint- 
ances, and  old  friends  are  agreeable  to  us  all,  and  I  should 
not  be  surprised  if  you  should  even  like  some  of  the  good  old 
ways  by  which  we  contrived  to  get  along  while  I  had  the 
honor  of  being  your  governor."  In  reply  to  the  inquiry  "is  he 
to  be  trusted?"  he  remarked — "I  have  been  tried  for  many 
years,  and  when,  or  where,  or  how  have  I  deceived  the  people  ? 
Was  it  during  those  territorial  times  that  tried  men's  souls  ? 
was  it  when  our  frontiers  were  smoking  with  the  blood  and 
strewed  with  the  mangled  bodies  of  our  men,  women,  and 
children,  indiscriminately  slaughtered  by  ruthless  savages  ? 
Did  I  then  consult  my  own  ease  and  comfort  and  interest,  or 
shrink  from  the  highest  responsibility?  Did  I  wait  for  author- 
ity to  act,  or  did  I  not  unhesitatingly  act  without  it,  and  freely 
risk  my  commission,  my  property,  and  my  life,  to  defend  my 
fellow-citizens  and  punish  barbarian  aggression  ?  Did  I  then 
betray  or  deceive  you  on  any  of  those  great  questions  which 
so  vitally  affected  your  interests  ? "  Such  appeals,  which  went 
home  to  the  popular  heart,  made  a  strong  impression  and  were 
not  without  their  effect  at  the  polls. 

One  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  Gov. 
Edwards'  success  was  the  charge  that  himself  and  relatives  had 
already  held  too  many  posts  of  high  official  preferment  in  the 
State,  and,  constituting  a  family  oligarchy,  had  too  long  wielded 
a  preponderating  influence  in  public  affairs — a  charge  which  it 
must  be  admitted  was  not  without  foundation  in  fact.  The 
governor  and  his  son-in-law  D.  P.  Cook,  who  was  again  a  can- 
didate for  congress  in  his  old  district,  had  represented  the 
State,  the  one  in  the  senate  and  the  other  in  the  house,  for  the 
whole  period  of  its  existence.  Judge  Pope,  his  cousin,  held 
the  United-States  judgeship;  Abner  Field,  A.  P.  Field,  and 
Benjamin  Stephenson,  all  of  them  family  connections,  had 
also  held  important  offices. 

Notwithstanding  the  determined  fight  made  against  him, 
the  verdict  of  the  people  at  the  polls  was  in  his  favor,  but  only 
by  a  small  plurality — the  poll  standing  for  Edwards  6280; 
Sloo  5834;  Hubbard  580. 


342  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Samuel  M.  Thompson,  a  Methodist  minister,  the  candidate 
for  lieutenant-governor  on  the  same  ticket  with  Edwards,  was 
defeated  by  William  Kinney  by  365  votes.  Daniel  P.  Cook  was 
also  defeated  for  congress  by  Joseph  Duncan,  an  unexpected 
result.  It  had  been  found  difficult  to  agree  upon  a  candidate 
to  oppose  one  so  popular  and  so  able  as  Cook,  his  old  antago- 
nists fearing  to  enter  the  race  against  him.  His  health  was 
not  good,  and  supposing  that  his  success  was  certain,  he  had 
spent  most  of  the  time  during  the  active  canvass  out  of  the 
district.  Duncan,  who  announced  himself  as  a  candidate,  had 
made  a  good  record  in  the  State  senate  and  stood  fairly  well 
as  a  rising  public  man.  He  went  over  the  district  making 
short  plain  speeches  as  a  supporter  of  Jackson,  who  was 
evidently  the  coming  candidate  for  president.  The  fact  that 
Cook  had  cast  the  vote  of  Illinois  in  1825  for  Adams,  although 
he  tried  to  explain  it  away,  made  many  vote  against  him,  and 
to  the  surprise  of  nearly  every  one,  and  the  regret  of  many 
leading  men  in  and  out  of  the  State,  his  opponent  was  elected 
— the  vote  standing  for  Duncan  6323,  Cook  5629,  and  James 
Turney,  also  a  candidate,  824.* 

During  his  last  sesssion  in  congress,  Mr.  Cook  discharged 
the  duties  of  chairman  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
a  position  which  involved  so  much  labor  as  to  overtask  his 
physical  powers,  and  the  close  of  the  session  found  him  with 
health  seriously  impaired.  With  a  view  to  the  recovery  of  his 
strength  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  a  special  mission  to 
Cuba,  and  embarked  for  that  island  expecting  great  benefit 
from  its  mild  climate.  In  this  he  was  disappointed,  and  return- 
ing to  Illinois  he  spent  a  short  time  with  his  family,  when 
there  being  no  longer  any  hope  of  recovery,  he  resolved  to 
return  to  Kentucky  the  home  of  his  nativity,  and  die  on  the 
spot  that  gave  him  birth,  where  he  breathed  his  last  Oct.  16, 
1827,  and  where  his  remains  repose. 

In  public  as  in  private  life  he  commanded  the  affectionate 
regard  of  both  political  friends  and  foes,  no  less  for  his  moral 
worth  than  for  his  mental  acumen.  John  C.  Calhoun  said 
of   him,   "I   have  a  genuine   respect   both    for  his   talent   and 

*  At  this  election  a  poll  was  opened  in  Chicago,  then  in  Peoria  County,  where 
thirty  votes  were  cast,  all  of  them  for  Edwards,  Cook,  and  Thompson. 


DANIEL   P.  COOK.  343 

character.  He  is  honest,  capable,  and  bold."  Judge  McLean 
spoke  of  him  as  follows:  "he  stands  well  with  all  parties,  and 
is  not  excelled  in  weight  of  character,  talents,  and  influence 
by  any  member  from  the  West." 

It  is  to  him  that  Illinois  is  indebted  for  securing,  after 
repeated  efforts,  the  passage  through  congress  of  the  act 
of  1827  granting  to  the  State,  without  reservation,  the  alternate 
five  sections  upon  each  side  of  the  Illinois- and -Michigan 
Canal,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  its  construction,  amount- 
ing to  nearly  three  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  includ- 
ing the  original  site  of  Chicago.  In  part  acknowledgment  of 
this  debt,  Cook  County  bears  his  honored  name. 

The  fifth  general  assembly  assembled  December  4,  1826. 
William  B.  Archer,  Zadoc  Casey,  and  Timothy  Gard  had  been 
transferred  from  the  house  to  the  senate.  In  the  house,  twenty- 
six  of  the  thirty-six  members  were  newly  elected,  those  who 
had  served  previously  being,  David  Blackwell,  Geo.  Churchill, 
Thomas  W.  Dorris,  Alex.  P.  Field,  William  McHenry,  John 
McLean,  Jonathan  H.  Pugh,  Charles  Slade,  and  Conrad  Will. 
John  Reynolds,  Thomas  Reynolds,  JJob^ert  K.  McLaughlin, 
Alfred  W.  Caverly,  James  Hall,  Henry  I.  Mills,  appearing  for 
the  first  time  in  the  legislature  as  members  of  the  house. 

John  McLean  for  the  second  time  was  elected  speaker  of  the 
house,  and  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  clerk.  Emanuel  J.  West  was 
again  elected  secretary  of  the  senate. 

The  governor  delivered  his  inaugural  in  person,  and,  true  to 
those  instincts  of  formal  propriety,  which  formed  so  prominent 
a  trait  in  his  character,  appeared  before  the  joint  session  in  a 
gold-laced  coat.  The  message  was  devoted  to  the  questions 
of  taxation,  State  expenditures,  and  the  alleged  mismanagement 
of  the  banks;  and  recommended  sixteen  distinct  propositions 
of  legislative  reform.  But  the  governor  soon  discovered  that  a 
large  majority  of  the  members  of  the  legislature  were  first 
and  foremost  Jackson  men,  and  that  his  individual  supporters 
were  largely  in  the  minority.  But  little  attention  was  paid  to 
his  excellency's  recommendations,  and  his  first  message  was 
followed  by  others,  until  as  was  remarked,  they  became  so 
"stale  as  not  to  be  noticed."  Becoming,  however,  more  emphati-c 
and  aggressive  in  his  statements,  he  finally  charged   specific 


344  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

acts  of  corruption  against  the  officers  of  the  bank  of  Edwards- 
ville,  and  a  committee  from  the  house  of  representatives  was 
appointed  to  investigate  the  charges.  A  large  mass  of  testi- 
mony was  taken  and  a  long  time  occupied  in  making  the 
examination.  The  charges  appear  to  have  been  instigated  in 
no  small  degree  by  a  feeling  of  irritation  on  the  part  of  the 
governor.  They  certainly  were  hastily  considered  and  alto- 
gether too  sweeping  in  their  denunciations.  Embracing  as  they 
did,  not  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  State,  to 
whom  no  taint  of  suspicion  could  rightfully  attach,  they 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  powerful  combination  to  defeat 
the  investigation.  Had  the  governor  shown  more  discrimina- 
tion in  selecting  those  whom  he  accused,  the  ultimate  result 
might  have  been  different. 

As  it  was,  however,  the  unquestionably  innocent  and  the 
possibly  guilty  found  themselves  forced  to  make  common 
cause,  and  the  fact  that  Gov.  Edwards  had  before  preferred 
equally  grave  charges  against  Mr.  Crawford,  which  he  had 
failed  to  sustain,  was  used  against  him  with  marked  effect.* 

While  the  testimony  showed  that  there  had  been  careless 
mismanagement  of  the  bank,  the  committee  felt  warranted 
from  the  evidence  in  bringing  in  a  report  that  "nothing  was 
proved  against  the  officers  of  the  bank,  to-wil:  William  Kin- 
ney, Shadrach  Bond,  Thomas  Carlin,  Abraham  Prickett,  Elijah 
lies,  and  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  which  would  justify  the  belief 
that  they  had  acted  corruptly  or  in  bad  faith  in  the  manage- 
ment as  officers  of  said  bank." 

Notwithstanding  the  governor  had  so  signally  failed  in  his 
onslaught  upon  the  officers  of  the  bank,  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  his  recommendation  in  favor  of  legislating  the  circuit- 
court  judges  out  of  office,  adopted.  The  law  of  the  previous 
session  creating  them  was  repealed,  and  the  State  being 
divided  into  four  circuits,  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  were 
directed  to  hold  the  circuit-courts  —  Lockwood  in  the  first, 
Smith  in  the  second,  Browne  in  the  third,  and  Wilson  in  the 
fourth. 

Another  exciting  subject  which  occupied  the  attention  of 
this  session  was  the  election  of  State  treasurer.     The  candidates 

•  Reynolds'  "My  Own  Times,"  173.     Ford's  "Illinois,"  63. 


FIFTH   GENERAL   ASSE>  BL7.  345 

were  Col.  Abner  Field,  the  then  incumbent  John  Tillson,  Abra- 
ham Pricket,  and  James  Hall,  the  latter  of  whom  proved  suc- 
cessful on  the  ninth  ballot.* 

Judge  Hall  was  the  distinguished  pioneer  author  of  Illinois, 
whose  able  contributions  to  the  literature  of  this  period,  con- 
tributed very  largely  to  the  material  and  intellectual  progress 
of  the  Prairie  State.  His  writings,  including  favorable  descrip- 
tions of  its  soil  and  climate,  biographical  sketches,  and  historical 
incidents,  were  voluminous,  and  read  with  great  pleasure  and 
interest  by  all  who  admire  a  style  at  once  graceful,  concise,  and 
forcible.*^ 

The  most  valuable  as  well  as  important  work  of  this  general 
assembly  was  the  revision  of  the  laws.  The  judges  of  the 
supreme  court,  who  it  will  be  remembered  had  been  directed  at 
the  last  session  to  perform  this  work,  now  made  their  report, 
which,  with  but  very  few  changes,  was  adopted;  and  so  thor- 
oughly and  wisely  was  this  task  executed  that  the  most  of  the 
statutes  thus  reported,  in  their  titles,  method  of  arrangement, 
and  in  some  instances  the  language,  have  been  preserved  in 
every  subsequent  revision.^ 

Another  important  law  enacted  at  this  session  was  the  pro- 

*  As  soon  as  the  result  was  known,  before  the  members  left  the  hall,  Field  walked 
in  and  administered  personal  chastisement  to  four  of  the  largest  and  strongest  of  his 
opponents — the  members  generally  breaking  out  of  the  chamber  one  way  or  another, 
like  sheep  from  a  fold  invaded  by  a  wolf. — Ford's  "History  of  Illinois,"  82. 

t  James  Hall  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Aug.  19,  1793,  served  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  being  afterward  admitted  to  the  bar,  removed  to  Shawneetown,  111.,  in 
1820.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed  State's  attorney,  and  in  1825  was  elected  one 
of  the  circuit- judges.  Being  with  others  legislated  out  of  office  he  removed  to 
Vandalia,  where  he  resided  until  1833,  and  was  elected  treasurer  as  above  set  forth; 
removing  thence  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  died  July  5,  1868.  He  was  the  author  of 
"Legends  of  the  West,"  "Tales  of  the  Border,"  "Notes  on  the  Western  States," 
"Statistics  of  the  West,"  "Romance  of  Western  History,"  etc.  He  also  was  the 
editor  of  the  "  Western  Monthly  Magazine. " 

X  Judge  Lockwood  was  the  author  of  the  criminal  code,  while  he  and  Judge 
Smith  jointly  were  said  to  have  been  the  authors  of  the  following  titles :  abatement, 
account,  amendments,  jeofails,  apprentices,  attachments,  attorneys,  bail,  bill  of 
exchange,  chancery,  conveyances,  depositions,  dower,  evidence,  forcible  entry  and 
detainer,  habeas  corpus,  jail,  jailors,  limitations,  mandamus,  ne  exeat  and  injunctions, 
oaths  and  affirmations,  promissory  notes,  replevin,  right  of  property,  and  sheriffs  and 
coroners.  Judge  Samuel  McRoberts  prepared  the  act  concerning  frauds  and  perjuries; 
John  York  Sawyer  the  act  concerning  insolvent  debtors;  Richard  M.  Young  concern- 
ing wills;  and  Henry  Starr  concerning  judgments  and  executions. 


346  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

viding  for  the  construction  of  a  penitentiary  at  Alton.  This 
was  a  favorite  measure  of  John  Reynolds,  who  was  opposed 
therein  by  the  governor.  The  State  treasury  was  empty,  and 
as  no  one  at  that  day  had  the  temerity  to  propose  a  loan,  the 
question  arose  how  the  funds  were  to  be  provided  to  erect  the 
necessary  buildings.  The  saline  lands,  of  which  only  the  use 
had  been  granted  to  the  State,  failed  to  produce  that  income 
•  which  was  anticipated  from  them,  and  there  was  difficulty  in 
collecting  the  rents,  some  of  which  were  lost.  Now  if  these 
lands  belonged  to  the  State  in  fee,  and  were  sold,  the  required 
means  could  be  raised.  Accordingly  upon  the  memorial  of  the 
legislature  to  congress,  the  State  was  authorized  to  sell  thirty 
thousand  acres  of  the  "Ohio  Saline  in  Gallatin  County  and  to 
apply  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  to  such  objects  as  the  legislature 
may  by  law  direct."  The  way  was  now  opened,  and  a  com- 
bination was  made  by  which  the  eastern  section  of  the  State 
should  have  one-half  of  said  proceeds  to  make  certain  improve- 
ments of  roads  and  bridges;  and  the  western  portion  the  other 
half,  to  be  expended  in  building  the  penitentiary.  The  law 
was  proposed  and  the  site  selected  by  Reynolds.  The  first 
commissioners  were  Shadrach  Bond,  William  P.  McKee,  and 
Gershom  Jayne,  who  were  authorized  to  superintend  the  work.* 
Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature  occurred  the 
first  Indian  disturbance  in  Illinois  since  the  War  of  1812.  It 
was  of  very  small  proportions,  although  it  has  been  dignified 
by  the  high-sounding  title  of  the  "Winnebago  War."  \Y:'  1 
rumors  were  carried  in  hot  haste  by  terrified  runners,  of  fearful 
massacres  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  State,  and  the 
serenity  of  years  of  peace  gave  place  to  wide-spread  alarm. 
The  governor  called  out  the  militia,  and  the  miners  of  Jo  Daviess 
County  were  formed  into  companies  and  equipped  for  action. 
Gen.  Nicholas  Hansen,  one  of  the  parties  to  the  famous  case  of 
contest  in  the  third  general  assembly,  was  directed  to  call  out 
one-fourth  of  the  four  regiments  of  his  brigade  for  service;  and 
a  regiment  (the  20th)  was  raised  in  Sangamon  and  Morgan 
counties  under  the  command  of  Col.  Thomas  M.  Neale,  and 
ordered  to  proceed  to  the  scene  of  anticipated  danger.  Gur- 
don  S.  Hubbard  carried   the  alarming  news  from  Chicago  to 

*  Reynolds'  "My  Own  Times,"  2d  Ed.,  173.     "Laws  of  Congress." 


THE   WINNEBAGO   DISTURBANCE.  347 

Danville,  where  was  quickly  raised  the  Vermilion  -  County 
"battalion"  as  it  was  called — a  company  of  fifty  men — which 
marched  at  once  to  Fort  Dearborn. 

In  the  meantime,  Gen.  Henry  Atkinson  of  the  United-States 
army  appeared  upon  the  scene  with  a  force  of  about  600 
infantry  and  130  mounted  riflemen. 

The  "head  and  front  of  the  offending"  of  the  Indians  which 
caused  these  extensive  preparations  for  war  was  as  follows:  an 
attack  was  made  by  the  Winnebagos  upon  the  Chippewas,  who 
were  by  treaty  regulations  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States,  in  which  a  number  of  the  latter  were  killed.  The 
United-States  commissioner  at  St.  Peters,  caused  four  of  the 
offending  Winnebagos  to  be  arrested  and  delivered  up  to  the 
Chippewas  by  whom  they  were  shot.  In  the  meantime  a 
question  had  arisen  involving  the  right  of  the  Winnebagos  to 
the  possession  of  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lead-mines  at 
Galena,  which  had  been  intruded  upon  by  the  miners,  some 
thousands  of  whom  had  lately  arrived  upon  the  ground.  Out 
of  this  had  grown  several  acts  of  reciprocal  hostility  between 
the  red  men  and  their  white  neighbors  along  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi. There  were  therefore,  various  sources  of  irritation  to  the 
Winnebagos  which  determined  Red  Bird,  a  noted  chief  of  that 
tribe  to  renew  his  attacks  upon  the  Chippewas  and  also  the 
whites;  in  one  of  which  near  Prairie  du  Chien,  two  of  the  latter 
were  killed.  A  few  days  after  this,  two  keel-boats  laden  with 
supplies  for  Fort  Snelling  stopped  at  a  camp  of  the  Winneba- 
gos on  the  Mississippi  not  far  above  Prairie  du  Chien.  The 
Indians  collected  about  the  boat,  as  was  alleged  with  hostile 
intentions,  and  for  purposes  of  plunder.  They  were  plied  with 
liquor  and  made  drunk,  and  six  or  seven  squaws  who  had  also 
become  intoxicated,  were  captured,  carried  off  and  outraged. 
Realizing,  when  they  became  sober,  the  great  injury  they  had 
sustained,  several  hundred  infuriated  warriors  assembled  to 
avenge  their  wrongs  when  their  aggressors  returned.  On  July 
22,  the  boats  came  in  sight,  and  knowing  that  their  conduct 
would  naturally  stimulate  the  Indians  to  make  reprisals,  they 
had  prepared  for  defence.  One  boat  passed  safely,  but  the 
other  grounded  and  was  savagely  assailed,  and  after  a  severe 
struggle   the    Indians   were   repulsed.      Two  white    men  were 


348  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

killed,  and  so  many  wounded  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
Capt.  Allan  Lindsay,  the  officer  in  charge  at  this  time,  and  the 
remnant  of  his  crew  were  able  to  reach  Galena. 

The  arrival  of  Gen.  Atkinson  prevented  any  further  outbreak. 
Red  Bird,  with  six  other  Indians,  voluntarily  surrendered  to 
save  their  nation  from  a  war  which  could  prove  only  disastrous 
to  them.  Some  were  acquitted  and  some  convicted,  but  it  was 
the  fate  of  Red  Bird,  who  died  in  prison,  Feb.  16,  t_8j?8,  and  is 
described  as  one  of  the  noblest  of  savage  chieftains,  having  will- 
ingly sacrificed  his  liberty,  the  loss  of  which  he  could  not 
survive,  to  his  patriotic  devotion  to  his  race.  After  all,  it  was 
not  much  of  a  war. 

The  Winnebago  "scare"  having  been  disposed  of,  the  people 
once  more  turned  their  attention  to  questions  of  state  and 
national  policy.  The  constitutent  elements  of  party  strife 
began  for  the  first  time  to  form  themselves  into  that  shape  and 
consistency  which  soon  afterward  developed  into  the  distinct 
divisions  of  the  whig  and  democratic  parties.  There  were  but 
two  candidates  for  the  presidency  in  1828,  Jackson  and  Adams, 
and,  as  the  vote  of  the  four  years  previous  had  foreshadowed, 
the  extraordinary  popularity  of  the  great  military  hero,  carried 
everything  before  it.  The  fact  that  such  a  man  was  their 
leader,  gave  the  democrats  an  advantage  in  national  affairs 
which  they  easily  maintained  for  the  next  twelve  years.  In 
Illinois,  Joseph  Duncan  was  again  elected  to  congress  defeating 
George  Forquer  by  over  4000  votes. 

The  sixth  general  assembly,  containing  a  large  majority  of 
Jackson  men,  convened  Dec.  1,  1828,,^-Robert  K.  McLaugh- 
lin and  Conrad  Will  had  been  transferred  to  the  senate,  and 
among  the  large  number  of  old  members  returned  to  the  house 
were  John  Reynolds,  George  Churchill,  A.  P.  Field,  Thomas 
Mather,  and  John  McLean.  Peter  Cartwright,  Wm.  L.  May, 
and  John  Dement  were  among  the  new  ones.  John  McLean 
was  for  the  third  time  elected  speaker — an  honor  he  alone  has 
achieved  in  the  legislative  history  of  the  State.  Wm.  L.  D. 
Ewing  was  elected  clerk,  and  Emanuel  J.  West,  for  the  third 
time  also,  secretary  of  the  senate. 

The  message  of  Gov.  Edwards — the  longest  ever  delivered 
to  any  legislature  in  this  State,  occupying  as  it  did  thirty-nine 


SIXTH   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  349 

printed  pages  of  the  house  journal — was  principally  devoted 
to  a  discussion  of  the  right  of  the  State  to  the  public  lands 
within  its  limits.  A  movement  having  been  made  at  the  pre- 
vious session  to  memorialize  congress  to  reduce  the  price  of  the 
public  lands,  and  a  committee  having  reported  in  favor  of  call- 
ing upon  the  United  States  to  surrender  the  same  "uncondition- 
ally," the  governor  set  forth  at  great  length  and  with  much 
earnestness  the  arguments  in  support  of  the  claim  that  they 
belonged  to  the  State,  founded  upon  the  doctrine  of  state  sover- 
eignty. This  was  a  master-stroke  upon  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernor and  awakened  the  liveliest  interest.  If  his  position  were 
correct,  and  his  reasoning  sound,  which  but  few  believed,  yet 
which  no  one  had  the  temerity  to  controvert,  and  if  he  were 
sustained  by  congress  and  the  courts,  here  would  be  laid  the 
foundation  for  enriching  the  State  with  the  ownership  of  her  vast 
tracts  of  rich  farming-lands.  No  one  dared  to  oppose  a  measure 
so  popular;  accordingly  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  gen- 
eral assembly  in  which  it  was  declared  that  "the  United  States 
can  not  hold  any  right  of  soil  within  the  limits  of  the  State, 
but  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards, 
and  other  needful  buildings."  As  it  would  be  equally  impolitic 
to  oppose  the  author  of  this  wonderful  political  discovery,  the 
governor  had  but  little  difficulty  in  securing  a  favorable  hearing 
for  his  measures,  and  the  confirmation  of  his  nominations  for 
office. 

It  was  at  this  session  that  the  policy  was  adopted  of  selling 
the  school  and  seminary  lands,  the  State  borrowing  the  pro- 
ceeds at  six  per  cent  interest,  to  be  used  in  meeting  the  current 
expenses  of  the  State  government. 

In  revising  the  election  law,  a  return  to  the  viva-voce  method 
of  voting,  was  provided  for. 

A  new  judicial  circuit  was  created,  the  fifth,  and  Richard  M. 
Young  appointed  its  judge. 

It  was  at  this  session  also  that  the  law,  approved  Jan.  22,  1829, 
was  passed,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to 
fix  upon  the  route  of  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal,  and  to 
select  the  alternate  sections  of  land  granted  to  the  State  to 
aid  in  its  completion,  to  provide  for  their  sale,  and  to  begin  the 
work  of  its  construction.     The  commissioners  appointed  by  the 


350  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

governor  were,  Charles  Dunn,  Gershom  Jayne,  and  Edmond 
Roberts. 

For  the  first  time,  a  United-States  senator  was  elected  by  a 
unanimous  vote — the  honor  having  been  conferred  upon  John 
McLean. 

State  officers  were  appointed  or  elected  as  follows:  Alexander 
P.  Field  secretary  of  state,  James  Hall  reelected  treasurer,  and 
George  Forquer  attorney-general. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Edwards  closed  amid  general 
expressions  of  satisfaction  and  good-feeling.  Although  he  had 
not  accomplished  the  reforms  he  advocated,  the  bitterness 
attending  the  commencement  of  his  term  had  passed  away 
and  many  of  those  who  had  strongly  antagonized  his  course 
were  outspoken  in  their  encomiums,  among  them  being  ex- 
Gov.  Bond  and  John  McLean. 

It  would  perhaps  have  been  wiser  for  him  to  have  ended  his 
public  career,  as  he  had  originally  intended,  at  the  close  of  his 
executive  term,  but  such  were  his  relations  to  public  affairs, 
that  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  refuse  the  request  of  many  old 
friends  to  become  a  candidate  for  congress  in  1832.  Four  other 
gentlemen  had  already  entered  the  field:  Charles  Slade,  Sid- 
ney Breese,  Charles  Dunn,  and  Henry  L.  Webb.  Had  the 
governor  announced  himself  earlier  and  made  an  active  canvass 
he  would  no  doubt  have  met  with  better  success.  As  it  was, 
he  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Slade,  the  vote  standing;  Slade  2470, 
Edwards  2078,  Breese  1670,  Dunn  1020,  Webb  551.  In  the 
counties  where  he  was  best  known,  St.  Clair  and  Madison,  he 
received  a  larger  vote  than  that  of  all  the  other  candidates 
combined. 

The  governor  now  finally  retired  to  his  home  in  Belleville, 
where  on  July  2^,0 f  the  following  year, _i 833,  he  died  of  chol- 
era, to  which  dread  disease  he  fell  a  victim  in  consequence  of 
his  humane  exertions  for  the  relief  of  his  afflicted  neighbors. 
He  left  a  large  estate  of  real  and  personal  property. 

His  earliest  places  of  residence  in  Illinois  were  at  Kaskaskia 
and  on  his  farm  of  "Elvirade" — so  named  from  his  wife  Elvira 
— near  Prairie  du  Rocher,  where  he  resided  most  of  the  time 
until  1818.  He  then  removed  to  Edwardsville  where  he 
remained  until   1824,  when  he  became  a  resident  of   Belleville. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  GOVERNOR'S  CAREER.         35  I 

He  stocked  his  farm  with  horses  and  sheep  of  fine  breeds  from 
Kentucky,  and  brought  with  him  a  choice  selection  of  fruit- 
trees,  vines,  and  shrubbery;  all  of  which  encouraged  and  pro- 
moted the  raising  of  improved  stock  and  the  adoption  of  better 
agricultural  methods. 

In  person,  to  use  the  language  of  his  contemporaries,  he  was 
large  and  well  made,  with  a  noble  and  even  princely  appear- 
ance—  "a  magnificent  specimen  of  a  man  physically  and 
intellectually."  He  was  dignified  and  polished  in  his  manners, 
and  courtly  and  precise  in  his  address.  He  was  a  despotic 
leader,  dictatorial,  fond  of  display,  impulsive,  and  arbitrary, 
yet  as  sensitive  as  a  child.  He  was  subject  to  fits  of  choleric 
passion  which  carried  him  beyond  himself,  and  in  one  of  which 
he  fell  to  the  floor,  while  making  a  speech  in  the  United-States 
senate,  and  had  to  be  carried  out  of  the  chamber  and  bled. 

His  speeches  evince  great  research  and  power  of  amplifica- 
tion, and,  although  lacking  precision,  were  ornate,  and  always 
commanded  attention. 

Relying  for  success,  as  he  remarked,  "upon  the  candor,  good 
sense,  and  judgment  of  the  people,"  his  aim  was  to  be  guided 
by  that  principal  of  political  action,  as  originally  defined  by 
himself,  that  "an  office  is  a  trust,  deposited  in  the  hands  of  an 
individual,  who  holds  it  not  for  his  personal  benefit  and  advan- 
tage, but  for  the  public  good."  * 

In  private  life  he  was  kindly,  benevolent,  and  hospitable. 
Though  not  "a  professor  of  religion"  he  was  a  patron  of  tem- 
perance and  morality,  and  an  attendant  upon  public  worship. 
He  exerted  a  wide-spread  influence  in  the  State  during  his 
long  connection  with  public  affairs,  and  will  always  be  remem- 
bered as  one  of  the  most  striking  characters  among  the 
prominent  men  of  his  period. 

The  receipts  and  expenditures  during  Gov.  Edwards'  administration  were  as  follows: 
receipts,  1827-8,  $96,106 — Disbursements,  $79,524;  leaving  a  balance  against  the 
treasury,  including  outstanding  warrants  and  sums  not  collected,  of  $45,999. 
Received  during  1829-30  with  the  balance  on  hand  of  $7319 — 116,452 — Disburse- 
ments, $84,047;  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury  Dec.  1,  1830,  of  $32,404. 
Amount  of  outstanding  warrants  $11,516,  school-fund  warrants  $28,283 — balance 
against  the  treasury  $7396.  There  was  at  the  same  time  due  the  State  from  non- 
resident delinquent  tax-list  $1 1,600 ;  from  A.  Field,  late  treasurer,  $12,516;  for 
rents  of  the  Ohio  Saline  $5866 ;  from  sheriffs  on  judgments  $805. 

*  Edwards'  "  Illinois, "  29. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

Administration  of  Gov.  Reynolds — The  Seventh  General 
Assembly— Black -Hawk  War— Receipts  and  Expen- 
ditures. 

THE  contest  for  gubernatorial  honors  in  1830,  was  confined 
to  two  candidates,  but  was  even  more  protracted  than 
the  preceding  one,  which  it  surpassed  in  excitement  and  per- 
sonal rancor.  John  Reynolds,  then  a  member  of  the  legislature, 
announced  himself  as  a  candidate  in  the  winter  of  1828-9. 
His  experience  on  the  bench  and  at  the  bar  had  made  him 
popular  with  the  legal  fraternity,  who  generally  favored  his 
candidacy.  William  Kinney,  the  lieutenant-governor,  was  put 
forward  as  a  candidate  at  the  same  time.  They  were  both 
Jackson  men,  but  Kinney  was  the  most  ultra,  while  the 
moderation  and  conservatism  of  Reynolds  on  this  point,  won 
for  him  the  support  of  the  Adams-Clay  whigs,  who  decided, 
after  the  poor  showing  they  had  made  at  the  polls  in  1828,  not 
to  offer  any  candidate.  There  were,  therefore,  no  principles  at 
stake  and  no  questions  of  national,  or  indeed,  of  State  policy  at 
issue,  other  than  the  construction  of  the  Illinois-and-Michigan 
Canal,  which  project  Reynolds  favored  and  Kinney  opposed. 
Both  candidates  addressed  the  people  in  every  county,  though 
not  together.  They  spoke  in  churches,  court-houses,  and  "gro- 
ceries," but  mostly  in  the  open  air,  the  better  to  accommodate 
the  large  crowds  which  no  halls  of  those  days  could  hold.  A 
tree  would  be  cut  down  in  the  forest  near  the  town,  and  the 
stump  hewed  smooth,  and  on  this  the  speaker  took  his  stand — 
hence  the  origin  of  the  phrase  "stump-speech." 

John  Reynolds  was  born  of  Irish  parentage  in  Pennsylvania, 
Feb.  26,  1788.  He  removed  with  his  father  to  Illinois  in  1800, 
and  lived  with  him  on  his  farm  until  1809,  when  he  decided  to 
attend  college  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.  His  education  previous 
to  that  time  had  been  confined  to  the  arts  and  mysteries  of 
horse-  and  foot-racing,  and  shooting-matches,  in  which  he  had 
graduated  with  first  honors.     Having  remained  at  college  two 

352 


JOHN   REYNOLDS.  353 

years,  he  began  the  study  of  law.  He  served  in  the  war  of 
1 8 12  in  a  company  of  rangers,  which  circumstance  gave  him 
the  sobriquet  of  the  "old  ranger."  He  first  "hung  out  his 
shingle"  as  a  lawyer  at  Cahokia  in  1814,  announcing  himself 
in  the  Illinois  Herald,  published  at  Kaskaskia,  as  follows:  "To 
the  poor  people  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  Territory:  To  the  above 
class  of  mankind  whose  pecuniary  circumstances  will  not  admit 
of  feeing  a  lawyer,  I  tender  my  professional  services  as  a  lawyer, 
in  all  courts  I  may  practise  in,  without  fee  or  reward.  JOHN 
Reynolds." 

A  lawyer  so  unselfish  could  not  be  long  without  clients,  and 
as  a  reward  for  his  generous  offer  of  gratuitous  services  he  soon 
enjoyed  a  practice  both  large  and  remunerative.  His  elevation 
to  the  bench,  and  election  to  the  legislature,  and  the  political 
tactics  employed  by  him  have  already  been  described.  The 
present  race  had  been  entered  upon  with  "savage  energy,"  and, 
to  use  his  own  words,  a  resolute  determination  to  win.  The 
leading  newspapers  of  the  State  were  in  his  favor,  though  the 
Illinois  Intelligencer,  edited  by  the  scholarly  Judge  Hall,  sup- 
ported his  opponent.* 

His  management  of  the  campaign  of  1830  was  characterized 
by  a  high  degree  of  political  sagacity 'and  shrewdness.  His 
efforts  were  directed  to  the  capture  of  a  fair  share  of  both  the 

*  He  wrote  to  Gov.  Edwards  very  suggestively  as  follows:  "presses,  speeches,  and 
much  riding  must  be  brought  to  our  aid,  I  will  do  my  part.  I  was  placed  on  the  track 
at  Vandalia  for  this  purpose — that  I  could  help  myself.  I  have  not  been  lazy  in  the 
business.  We  are  all  equally  interested  in  the  present  approaching  contest  [over  a 
year  off].     The  office  I  go  in  for,  with  the  wishes  of  our  friends,  is  not  the  only  one." 

In  another  letter  he  said,  "  I  shall  have  no  choice  among  friends,  but  I  do  love  an 
active  man  more  than  a  drone.  Believe  me  the  county  elections  shall  not  be  for- 
gotten. On  this  much  depends.  I  sincerely  recommend  to  the  prominent  Adams 
men,  not  to  abuse  Jackson  but  to  go  in  for  his  administration  as  far  as  it  is  right  *  * 
and  particularly  for  them  to  keep  cool  and  dark  on  the  election  between  me  and 
Kinney. " 

From  Jonesboro :  "  the  Revs.  Peck  and  Green  of  Rock  Springs  have  great  weight 
with  their  churches  in  this  county.  All  here  look  to  these  men  for  information.  *  * 
Please  attend  to  this  matter.  It  is  right  for  the  good  of  the  country  it  should  be  done. 
Get  them  to  write  and  keep  a  writing  down  here. " 

"  I  received  from  Mr.  Cowles,  the  writing. "  [A  hand-bill  prepared  for  him  for 
circulation  as  a  campaign  document.]  "  I  thought  it  advisable  to  change  some  of  the 
expressions  more  into  my  lingo.  *  *  I  have  not  concluded  if  the  Cross  Canal  is  not 
a  little  too  digging.  *  *  I  know  not  how  many  of  these  handbills  ought  to  go  out. 
I  was  thinking  of  1000." 
23 


354  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Jackson  and  anti-Jackson  vote,  besides  securing  the  support  of 
Gov.  Edwards  and  the  State  administration,  all  of  which  ends 
he  accomplished. 

William  Kinney  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1781  and  had  come 
to  Illinois  early  in  life.  His  educational  advantages  had  been 
of  the  most  limited  description,  having  been  taught  to  read  by 
his  wife,  after  marriage.  He  possessed,  however,  naturally  a 
strong  intellect,  and  being  an  original  thinker,  and  of  unim- 
peached  honesty  and  tried  fidelity  to  his  friends,  his  popularity 
with  the  people  was  unquestioned.  He  was  a  preacher  of  the 
"regular"  or,  as  sometimes  called,  "hard-shell,  anti-missionary" 
Baptists,  and  was  accustomed  to  off-hand  speaking,  and  having 
a  large  store  of  witty  anecdotes  which  he  could  tell  and  apply 
with  effect,  was  no  mean  antagonist  on  the  stump.  His  previous 
service  in  the  legislature,  and  as  lieutenant-governor,  had  made 
him  well  and  favorably  known  throughout  the  State.  He 
claimed  to  be  the  representative  of  the  administration  of 
President  Jackson,  whose  patronage  in  this  State  he  controlled. 
So  great  was  his  admiration  of  the  old  hero  that  he  had  under- 
taken the  long  journey  to  Washington  to  witness  his  inaugura- 
tion and  to  grasp  his  hand. 

Both  candidates  followed  the  practice  of  "treating" — it  being 
said,  indeed,  that  Kinney,  not  to  be  behind  in  this  respect, 
as  a  clergyman,  carried  a  Bible  in  one  pocket,  and  as  a  candi- 
date, a  bottle  of  whisky  in  the  other. 

A  large  amount  of  electioneering  was  done  by  means  of 
handbills  and  circulars,  many  of  them  being  prepared  by  the 
friends  of  each  candidate,  and  circulated  without  (?)  his  knowl- 
edge. The  attention  of  Kinney  being  called  to  the  fact  that 
in  one  of  these,  the  I's  were  all  small  or  lowercase  i's,  he  replied 
"O,  yes,  that's  all  right.  Reynolds  has  used  up  all  the  big  I's 
in  his  circulars." 

All  sorts  of  tricks  were  played  with  these  handbills  by  both 
sides.  While  Matthew  Duncan,  who  distributed  for  Kinney, 
was  stopping  at  Jacksonville  with  his  saddle-bags  full  of  docu- 
ments, some  friends  of  Reynolds,  who  were  also  there,  during 
the  night  exchanged  circulars.  Duncan  went  on  giving  out 
the  latter  for  sometime  before  he  found  out  the  joke  played 
upon  him. 


SEVENTH   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  355 

Gov.  Edwards  and  Senator-elect  McLean,  with  their  particu- 
lar friends,  espoused  the  cause  of  Reynolds;  while  Senator 
Kane,  Judge  McRoberts,  and  Joseph  Duncan  rallied  their 
adherents  to  the  support  of  Kinney.  One  interesting  fact 
relating  to  the  contest  is  that  a  large  amount  of  money  for 
those  days — all  that  the  parties  could  raise — was  used.  Gov. 
Edwards  complained  in  one  of  his  letters  that  he  "had  ad- 
vanced more  money  than  all  the  other  friends  of  Reynolds  put 
together,"  but  offered  to  become  his  indorser  for  still  further 
funds  required,  which  might  be  raised  by  paying  twelve  and 
one-half  per  cent  interest.*  Reynolds  himself  says  that  "large 
sums  of  money  were  expended  in  the  canvass. ""f* 

As  the  day  of  election  approached,  party  feeling  ran  high  and 
wafers  were  freelv  made  on  the  result,  through  which  the 
friends  of  Judge  Reynolds,  acting  upon  advices  privately 
received  from  him,  were  in  a  large  measure  enabled  to  recoup 
their  outlays  during  the  campaign.-f- 

The  counting  of  the  votes  showed  that  there  was  no  cause 
for  the  anxiety  felt  by  the  friends  of  Reynolds,  he  having 
received  of  the  21,975  polled,  a  majority  of  3899. 

The  candidates  for  lieutenant-governor  were  Zadoc  Casey  on 
the  Kinney  ticket,  and  Rigdon  B.  Slocumb  on  that  of  Reyn- 
olds. Both  had  served  in  the  legislature,  but  the  former  was- 
better  known  than  his  opponent,  and  being  an  able  speaker 
both  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  stump,  made  an  active  canvass.. 
The  latter  not  having  the  gift  of  oratory,  remained  at  home,, 
and  was  left  behind  in  the  race.  Joseph  Duncan  was  reelected 
to  congress. 

The  seventh  general  assembly  met  Dec.  6,  1830.  There 
were  but  four  new  members  in  the  senate,  while  twelve  of  those 
who  had  formerly  served  in  the  house,  were  returned.  Among 
the  new  members  were  Wm.  J.  Gatewood,  Edmund  Dick 
Taylor,  and  Thos.  J.  V.  Owen.  Wm.  Lee  D.  Ewing,  was  elected 
speaker    of    the    house,  and    David    Prickett,    clerk.     Jesse    B. 

*  "Edwards  Papers,"  531. 

In  one  of  the  letters  of  George  Forquer  to  Gov.  Edwards,  in  which  he  was 
taking  a  despondent  view  of  the  prospect,  he  uses  this  expression  "we  will  be  whipped 
to  death,  but  I  mean  to  die  in  the  last  ditch. "  This  is  probably  the  origin  of  this 
expression  which  came  to  be  so  famous  in  the  late  civil  war. — "Edwards  Tapers," 
p.  518.  t  "My  Own  Times,"  2d  ed.,  189,  190. 


356  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

Thomas,  jr.,  was  chosen  secretary  of  the  senate.  The  inaugural 
message  of  Gov.  Reynolds  was  in  marked  contrast  with  that 
of  his  predecessor — while  the  latter  had  been  lengthy  and 
aggressive,  the  former  was  brief  and  non-committal;  in  dic- 
tion it  was  direct  and  homely,  rather  than  polished  and  pre- 
tentious. He  outlined  no  clearly-defined  policy,  confining  his 
official  recommendations  to  two  subjects — the  completion  of  the 
penitentiary  and  the  winding-up  of  the  affairs  of  the  old  State 
Bank.  He  also  referred  favorably  to  the  construction  of  the 
Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal. 

While  the  relations  subsisting  between  the  governor  and  the 
legislature  were  not  of  that  strained  character  which  had  marked 
the  early  intercourse  between  his  predecessor  and  the  fifth 
general  assembly,  a  majority  of  the  senate  was  politically 
opposed  to  him  and  displayed  marked  cheerfulness  in  rejecting 
his  nominations.  He  was,  however,  able  to  bring  about  the 
election  of  John  Dement  as  State  treasurer,  after  a  heated  con- 
test with  Judge  Hall,  the  then  incumbent. 

The  talented  and  eloquent  McLean  having  died  October  4, 
\~b  /  made  it  necessary  to  elect  two  United-States  senators.  Hon. 
E.  K.  Kane  was  elected  to  succeed  himself,  without  very  serious 
opposition.  Hon.  John  M.  Robinson  was  elected  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term  of  Senator  McLean,  on  the  fifth  ballot,  receiv- 
ing 34  votes,  to  15  for  Col.  T.  Mather,  and  three  votes  scatter- 
ing. He  was  a  brother  of  Gov.  James  F.  Robinson  of  Kentucky, 
in  which  State  he  was  born  April  10,  1794.  He  settled  in 
Carmi  in  18 17,  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  profes- 
sion as  a  lawyer — not  having  previously  filled  any  civil  office 
except  prosecuting  attorney.  He  was  of  commanding  appear- 
ance, being  six  feet  four  inches  in  height,  straight  as  an  arrow, 
and  finely  proportioned.  His  only  other  office  had  been  that  of 
a  brigadier-general  of  militia.  He  was  a  strong  Jackson  man, 
and  probably  owed  his  success  on  this  occasion  to  the  fact  that 
he  had  not  objectionably  identified  himself  with  the  personal 
factions  which  had  heretofore  controlled  state  politics. 

Comparatively  few  measures  of  general  public  interest  were 
enacted  by  this  legislature,  among  the  chief  of  which  were  the 
following: 

1.     The  amendment  of  the  criminal  code  by  the  substitution 


BLACK -HAWK   WAR.  357 

of  confinement  in  the  penitentiary  for  public  whipping,  and 
imprisonment  in  the  pillory. 

2.  The  passage  of  a  law  authorizing  the  borrowing  by  the 
State  of  $100,000,  to  redeem  the  outstanding  circulation  of  the 
old  State  Bank,  which  fell  due  the  next  year — which  resulted  in 
the  celebrated  Wiggins'  loan.  Concerning  this  legislation,  Gov. 
Ford  sententiously  remarks  that  "the  credit  of  the  State  was 
saved,  and  the  legislature  was  damned  for  all  time  to  come." 

This  was  really  a  measure  of  necessity,  but  those  who  voted 
for  it  became  unpopular.  It  was  even  stated  that  Wiggins  had 
purchased  the  entire  State,  and  that  the  inhabitants  "for  gene- 
rations to  come  had  been  made  over  to  him  like  cattle."  The 
members  instead  of  justifying  their  action  as  being  prompted 
by  a  desire  to  protect  the  credit  of  the  State,  and  denouncing 
the  demagogues  who  thus  assailed  them,  acted  upon  the  defen- 
sive and  pusillanimously  apologized  for,  and  tried  to  excuse,  it. 
As  a  result,  says  Gov.  Ford,  "the  destruction  of  great  men  was 
noticeable  for  many  years  thereafter." 

At  this  session  the  State  was  reapportioned  into  legisla- 
te districts  under  the  census  of  1830,  giving  the  senate 
twenty-six  members  and  the  house  fifty-five.  And  the  State, 
which  had  heretofore  constituted  but  one  congressional  district, 
was  divided  into  three.  The  legislature  adjourned  February  16, 
1 83 1,  after  a  session  of  seventy-two  days. 

The  event  of  most  interest  to  the  people  during  Gov.  Reyn- 
olds' administration  was  the  disturbance  familiarly  known  as 
the  Black-Hawk  War;  and  of  all  the  many  Indian  embroil- 
ments which  excited  the  early  residents  of  Illinois  to  acts  of 
reprisal  and  hostility  none  have  occupied  so  large  a  place  in 
history,  or  been  more  unduly  magnified. 

It  is  the  story  of  the  calling  out  of  eight  thousand  volunteers, 
to  cooperate  with  fifteen  hundred  soldiers  of  the  regular  army, 
in  expelling  from  the  State  a  band  of  about  four  hundred  Indian 
warriors  with  their  one  thousand  women  and  children,  at  an 
expenditure  of  millions  of  money  and  three  months  of  time, 
besides  the  loss  of  over  a  thousand  lives. 

It  has  been  made  the  theme  of  no  little  self-glorification  on 
the  part  of  some  of  the  actors,  and  its  chief  incidents  were  for 
years   freely   employed    to  advance    the    interests   of  political 


358  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

demagogues.  In  consequence,  there  are  few  published  accounts 
of  this,  the  most  picturesque  and  bloody  of  Indian  wars  in  this 
State,  free  from  either  personal  or  partisan  prejudice;  and  the 
vague,  popular  impression  of  its  stormy  incidents  and  tragic 
termination  is  usually  far  from  being  correct. 

The  real  cause  of  the  war  existed  in  that  almost  universal 
detestation  in  which  the  Indians  were  held  by  the  pioneers. 
Their  presence  could  not  be  tolerated,  and  whether  the  lands 
occupied  by  them  were  needed  by  the  whites  or  not,  the  cry 
was  "the  Indians  must  go." 

The  alleged  origin  of  the  struggle,  however,  arose  out  of  a 
question  of  interpretation  of  certain  provisions  of  the  treaty 
of  November  3,  1804,  between  the  general  government  and 
the  tribes  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians.  As  was  not  unusual 
in  such  compacts,  most  of  the  advantages  were  on  the  side  of 
the  whites.  The  United  States  assumed  the  payment  to  the 
two  confederated  tribes  of  the  sum  of  $1000  per  annum  in  per- 
petuity, and  in  consideration  thereof  the  Indians  ceded  all  the 
territory  lying  between  the  Wisconsin  River,  the  Fox  River  of 
Illinois,  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  together  with  a 
tract  comprising  about  the  eastern  third  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri. The  land  thus  cheaply  acquired  amounted,  in  round 
numbers,  to  about  50,000,000  acres.  The  treaty,  however,  con- 
tained a  provision  that  as  long  as  the  ceded  lands  remained  the 
property  of  the  United  States,  the  "Indians  belonging  to  said 
tribes  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  living  or  hunting  upon 
them."  It  was  without  doubt  the  construction  of  this  article, 
so  vague  in  wording,  which  formed  the  ostensible  cause  of  the 
war.  In  order  to  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  nature  of  the 
conflict,  it  will  be  necessary  briefly  to  survey  the  situation  as 
it  actually  existed  in  183 1,  the  year  of  the  outbreak. 

Not  far  from  Rock  Island,  three  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Rock  River  was  situated  the  chief  seat  of  the  Sacs, 
which  tribe  had  for  nearly  one  hundred  years  dwelt  along  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  roaming  at  will  between  the 
mouths  of  the  Wisconsin  and  the  Missouri.  Their  principal 
village,  called  Saukenuk,  comprised  some  five  hundred  families, 
a  number  then  almost  without  parallel  among  Indian  villages. 
Here  were  the  nation's  graves,  and  at  this  point   focused  the 


BLACK -HAWK    WAR.  359 

interests  and  affections  of  the  entire  tribe.  About  three  thou- 
sand acres  of  rich  alluvial  soil  had  been  placed  under  a  rude 
sort  of  cultivation,  and  the  crops  garnered  therefrom  were  a 
source  of  no  little  pride  to  the  semi-savage  agriculturists. 

The  Sacs  may  be  said  to  have  been  split  into  two  parties. 
One  of  these  was  friendly  to  the  American  government,  while 
the  other,  from  its  attachment  to  British  interests,  agents  and 
traders,  came  to  be  known  as  "the  British  band."  At  the  head 
of  the  latter  element  was  Makabaimeshekiakiak,  the  significa- 
tion of  which  appellation  is  "the  Black  Sparrow  Hawk,"  com- 
monly abbreviated  into  Black  Hawk,  who  was  the  central  figure 
in  these  disturbances.  In  the  characteristics  of  his  moral 
nature  were  exhibited  some  strange  incongruities.  He  was 
brave,  ambitious,  but  without  the  higher  qualities  fitting  him  to 
command;  easily  influenced,  and  peculiarly  susceptible  to 
flattery,  he  became  the  ready  dupe  of  designing  men,  while  he 
was  strangely  suspicious  of  those  who  wished  him  no  harm. 
It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  British,  during  the  period  be- 
tween the  close  of  the  Revolution  and  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  of  1812,  to  incite  and  foster  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the 
United  States  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, and  the  restless  nature  of  Black  Hawk  made  him  a  fit 
subject  for  the  blandishments  of  the  British  military  agent  at 
Maiden.  In  the  war  of  18 12,  he  served  with  his  band  on  their 
side,  and  engaged  in  a  series  of  depredations  against  the 
Americans  until  a  date  nearly  eighteen  months  after  the  con- 
clusion of  the  treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States. 

As  early  as  1823,  the  fame  of  the  fertility  of  the  lands  of  the 
Sacs  had  come  to  the  ears  of  that  restless  class  of  squatters 
who  were  always  reaching  out  for  the  farthest  frontier.  The 
lands  had  not  been  surveyed  and  were  more  than  fifty  miles  in 
advance  of  regular  settlements,  where  millions  of  acres  just  as 
good,  were  open  to  legal  entry  and  sale.  But  from  this  time 
on  for  the  next  five  or  six  years  portions  of  the  lands  already 
cultivated  by  the  red  men  were  squatted  upon,  without  a  shadow 
of  right,  and  continuously  occupied. 

The  whites  taking  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  Indians 
on  their  annual  hunts,  even  went  so  far  as  to   fence  in  and 


360  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

cultivate  their  cornfields,  and  drive  off  the  squaws  and  children 
who  ventured  upon  the  claims  thus  marked  out — in  some 
instances  burning  their  lodges  over  their  heads.  Each  year 
when  the  Sacs  returned  to  their  village  in  the  spring  the 
evidence  of  the  increasing  encroachments  of  these  intruders 
became  more  apparent. 

Complaints,  recriminations,  and  actual  collisions  between  the 
whites  and  Indians  naturally  followed  this  state  of  things  until 
in  1828,  Gov.  Edwards  demanded  the  expulsion  of  the  Indians, 
and  as  the  result  of  his  persistent  efforts,  President  Jackson 
made  an  order  for  their  removal  across  the  Mississippi  in  1829; 
but  upon  the  personal  application  of  Col.  George  Davenport, 
Indian  trader  on  Rock  Island,  the  time  was  extended  to  April 
1,  1830. 

In  1829,  Col.  Davenport,  and  Davenport  &  Farnham, 
purchased  from  the  United  States  the  site  of  Saukenuk  and 
nearly  all  the  lands  cultivated  by  the  Sacs,  the  ulterior  object 
being  to  permit  their  continued  and  unmolested  occupancy  by 
the  Indians.  Black  Hawk,  when  he  learned  of  the  purchase, 
failing  to  understand  the  motive  which  prompted  it,  was  greatly 
incensed  against  the  colonel,  who  thereupon  offered  with  the 
consent  of  the  government,  to  exchange  these  lands  for  others, 
or  even  cancel  the  sale,  and  allow  the  Indians  to  remain  in 
peaceable  possession.  A  deputation  headed  by  Keokuk,  pro- 
ceeded to  Washington,  to  endeavor  to  effect  such  an  arrange- 
ment. But  President  Jackson  would  not  consent  to  it,  and 
notified  the  Indians  that  all  the  lands,  embodied  in  the  treaty 
of  1804,  must  be  surrendered  and  they  remove  to  the  west 
side  of  the  Mississippi,  as  had  been  previously  ordered. 

Keokuk,  acting  in  concert  with  the  United-States  Indian 
agent  at  Fort  Armstrong,  advised  submission.  But  Black 
Hawk,  moody  and  discontented,  and  feeling  that  injustice  had 
been  done  his  band,  upon  the  advice  of  White  Cloud,  the 
Prophet,  who  exercised  a  controlling  influence  over  him,  and 
after  consulting  with  his  "British  father"  at  Maiden,  determined 
not  to  abandon  his  ancient  village  and  lands,  but  to  insist  upon 
his  right  to  occupy  them. 

On  the  return  of  the  Sac  chief  and  his  braves  in  the  spring 
of  1830  from  their  annual  hunt,  it  was  found  that  the  settlers, 


BLACK -HAWK   WAR.  36 1 

emboldened  by  the  action  of  the  government,  had  practically- 
taken  possession  of  his  farms,  had  nearly  ruined  his  town  by 
burning  many  lodges,  and  had  obliterated  even  the  graves  of 
his  dead  by  the  plow.  Still,  no  actual  outbreak  occurred  until 
the  return  of  the  Indians  in  183 1.  The  winter  had  been  severe 
and  the  chase  unsuccessful,  and  on  reaching  the  village  the 
disheartened  aborigines  were  ordered  to  depart  in  terms  full 
of  menace.  This  quickly  precipitated  the  climax.  Quietly, 
but  with  native  dignity,  Black  Hawk  replied  that  the  land  was 
his,  and  that  if  any  one  were  to  withdraw  it  must  be  the  white 
interlopers,  and  that  to  secure  this  end  he  was  prepared  to 
use  force. 

The  white  settlers,  now  numbering  about  forty  inhabitants, 
who  had  come  to  believe  that  under  no  circumstances  need 
they  apprehend  resistance  or  retaliation,  construed  these  words 
in  accordance  with  their  fears  and  promptly  appealed  to  Gov. 
Reynolds  for  protection  against  the  "blood-thirsty  savages." 
Although  Black  Hawk  himself  subsequently  declared  that  he 
contemplated  only  "muscular  eviction  without  bloodshed," 
whatever  that  may  mean,  the  whites  assured  the  governor 
that  he  had  thrown  down  their  fences,  destroyed  their  grain, 
demolished  their  houses,  driven  off  their  cattle,  and  made 
threats  against  their  persons.  Two  petitions  were  sent  to  Gov. 
Reynolds  setting  forth  the  grievances  of  the  settlers,  one  dated 
April  30,  and  one  May  19,  in  response  to  which  on  May  26, 
the  governor  issued  a  call  for  seven  hundred  militia  "to  remove 
the  band  of  Sac  Indians  now  residing  about  Rock  Island."  At 
the  same  time  he  notified  Gen.  Edmund  P.  Gaines,  in  command 
of  the  military  district,  of  his  action  and  requested  his  coopera- 
tion. Gen.  Gaines  replied  that  he  had  ordered  six  companies 
of  regular  troops,  stationed  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  to  repair 
forthwith  to  Rock  Island,  and  promised  if  necessary,  that  he 
would  add  four  companies  more  from  Prairie  du  Chien.  With 
this  force,  the  general  informed  the  governor,  he  was  satisfied 
he  would  be  able  to  repel  the  alleged  invasion  of  the  Sacs  and 
protect  the  frontier;  and  that  he  did  not  think  it  "necessary  or 
proper  to  require  militia,  or  any  other  force"  besides  the  regular 
army  for  that  purpose. 

The    militia    assembled,    however,  at    Beardstown,    early   in 


2,62  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

June,  as  directed,  but  in  double  the  number  called  for.  Two 
regiments  one  commanded  by  Col.  James  D.  Henry,  and  the 
other  by  Col.  Daniel  Leib,  an  odd  battalion,  and  a  spy  battal- 
ion were  organized,  and  all  placed  under  command  of  Gen. 
Joseph  Duncan.  The  governor's  principal  aides,  Cols.  Milton 
K.  Alexander,  Enoch  C.  March,  and  Samuel  C.  Christy,  were 
appointed  quartermasters,  and  Col.  E.  C.  Berry  adjutant- 
general.* 

On  June  5,  Gen.  Gaines  notified  Gov.  Reynolds  that  having 
learned  that  the  Sacs  had  invited  the  support  of  the  Winne- 
bagos,  Pottawatomies,  and  Kickapoos  in  a  determined  resist- 
ance, requested  of  his  excellency  the  assistance  and  coopera- 
tion of  "the  battalion  of  mounted  men"  previously  offered. 

The  combined  armies  numbering  some  twenty-five  hundred 
troops,  appeared  before  the  village  occupied  by  the  Sacs,  June 
25,  1 83 1.  Black  Hawk  perceiving  his  inferiority  in  point  of 
numbers,  not  having  over  three  hundred  warriors  present, 
successfully  evacuated  the  fort  during  the  night,  effecting  a 
withdrawal  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  about  twelve 
miles  below.  After  burning  the  deserted  town,  the  whites 
proceeded  to  Rock  Island,  where  Gen.  Gaines  declared  his 
intention  to  pursue  and  attack  the  fugitives,  and  so  notified 
their  chief.  This  had  the  desired  effect  of  bringing  Black  Hawk 
back  to  the  general's  headquarters,  where,  on  June  30,  a  treaty 
was  signed,  by  which  he  obligated  himself  and  band  to  remain 
away  from  the  east  side  of  the  river  unless  their  return  was 
permitted  by  the  United  States.  Whether  or  not  this  compact 
was  reported  to  the  president,  as  other  Indian  treaties  had 
been,  or  whether  it  was  inherently  defective,  it  was  never  rati- 
fied by  congress,  and   does  not  appear  among   the  published 

*  The  officers  of  the  regiments  and  companies  were  as  follows:  1st  regiment,  Col. 
James  D.  Henry,  Lieut. -Col.  Jacob  Fry,  Major  John  T.  Stuart,  Adjutant  Thomas 
Collins;  captains:  Adam  Smith,  Win.  F.  Elkin,  A.  Morris,  Thomas  Carlin,  Samuel 
Smith,  John  Lorton,  and  Samuel  C.  Pease;  2d  regiment,  Col.  Daniel  Leib,  Lieut.  - 
Col.  (unknown),  Major  Nathaniel  Butler;  captains:  H.  Matthews,  John  Hanes, 
George  Bristow,  Wm.  Gillham,  James  Kinkead,  Alexander  Wells,  Wm.  Weather- 
ford.  The  "odd  battalion,"  Major  Nathaniel  Buckmaster,  Adjutant  James  Semple, 
Paymaster  Joseph  Gillespie;  captains:  Wm.  Moore,  John  Laramie,  Solomon  Miller. 
The  "spy  battalion,"  Major  Samuel  Whitesides,  Adjutant  Samuel  F.  Kendall, 
Quartermaster  John  S.  Greathouse,  Paymaster  P.  H.  Winchester;  captains:  Wm. 
Bolin  Whiteside,  Wm.  Miller,  and  Solomon  Prewitt. 


,    CAMPAIGN   OF    1 83 1.  363 

collection  of  such  treaties.     And  thus  without  bloodshed  ter- 
minated the  campaign  of  1831: 

"The  King  of  France,  with  all  his  men, 
Marched  up  the  hill,  and  then  marched  down  again." 

Black  Hawk  and  his  followers  now  realized  the  hardships 
and  sufferings  incident  to  a  forced  expatriation,  at  a  season 
of  the  year  before  the  hunt  began,  and  when  it  was  too  late  to 
raise  any  crops  for  their  sustenance.  Although  they  received 
some  corn  and  other  assistance  under  the  treaty,  his  band 
passed  a  wretched  summer. 

Smarting  under  a  sense  of  humiliation  and  want,  as  if  to 
complicate  the  difficulties  surrounding  him,  he  engaged  in  a 
raid  against  the  Menominees  in  retaliation  for  an  attack  by 
that  tribe  and  some  Sioux  upon  the  Sacs  the  previous  year,  in 
which  a  number  of  the  latter  had  been  killed.  The  Menominees 
were  encamped  upon  an  island  opposite  Prairie  du  Chien,  where 
they  were  savagely  assailed  by  Black  Hawk,  and  but  one  of  the 
band  of  twenty-eight,  escaped  mutilation  or  massacre.  Upon 
demand  by  Gen.  Joseph  M.  Street,  Indian  agent,  to  deliver  up 
the  murderers,  Black  Hawk  unhesitatingly  refused,  contending 
that  his  foray  was  one  of  justifiable  reprisal. 

In  the  meantime  Neapope,  second  in  command  of  the  Hawk's 
band,  had  again  visited  "the  British  father"  at  Maiden,  and  had 
interviewed  the  Winnebagos  and  Pottawatomies,  from  all  of 
whom  he  brought  back  glowing  assurances  of  sympathy,  and 
support.  Relying  upon  these,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  advice 
of  the  Prophet,  Black  Hawk  once  more  resolved  to  reoccupy 
his  old  village  and  farms  if  permitted;  or  in  case  of  refusal 
by  the  proper  authorities,  to  proceed  to  the  Prophet's  town 
and  raise  a  crop  with  the  Winnebagos.  Of  course  this  step 
-  was  in  direct  violation  of  the  treaty  of  the  year  before,  if  that 
agreement,  extorted  from  him  as  it  was  under  the  threat  of 
an  immediate  attack,  was  of  binding  force.  He  apparently 
regarded  it  as  having  been  already  violated  through  the  failure 
of  the  whites  to  provide  adequate  supplies  for  his  band. 

However  this  may  be,  Black  Hawk  with  his  band  of  five 
hundred  warriors,  their  squaws,  children,  and  household  effects, 
crossed  the  Mississippi,  April  6,  1832,  at  the  Yellow  Banks  on 


364  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

his  way  to  the  Rock  River — his  design  being  as  subsequently 
avowed  by  himself,  to  proceed  peaceably  to  the  country  of  the 
Winnebagos  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  crop. 

At  this  time  northern  Illinois  was  almost  an  uninhabited 
wilderness.  There  was  a  settlement  of  some  thirty  farmers 
on  Bureau  Creek,  and  a  few  cabins  at  Peru,  LaSalle,  Ottawa, 
Newark,  Holderman's  Grove,  and  on  Indian  Creek,  besides 
the  towns  of  Galena  and  Chicago.  There  were  many  Indian 
trails,  but  there  was  only  one  wagon-road  north  of  the  Illinois 
River,  sometimes  called  Kellogg's  trail,  between  Peoria  and 
Galena,  over  which  daily  traveled  the  mail-coach,  carrying  the 
news,  and  often  loaded  with  passengers  going  to  the  mines. 
Along  this  route  houses  of  entertainment  were  kept  by  "old 
man"  Kellogg  at  Kellogg's  Grove,  Mr.  Winter  on  Apple  River, 
John  Dixon  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  on  Rock  River  "Dad  Joe"  at 
the  grove  of  that  name,  Henry  Thomas  on  West-Bureau  Creek, 
and  Charles  S.  Boyd  at  Boyd's  Grove.  An  Indian  trail  con- 
nected Galena  with  Chicago  by  way  of  Lake  Geneva,  and  what 
was  denominated  the  great  Sac  trail  extended  across  the  State 
from  Rock  Island  to  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  and 
thence  to  Maiden. 

The  scattered  population  was  made  up  of  two  classes — first 
the  hardy  pioneers  from  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Indiana,  who 
were  enterprising,  accustomed  to  privations  and  dangers,  and 
bold  and  skilful  hunters;  and  second,  the  lawless  adventurers, 
destitute  alike  of  principal  or  property,  who  infest  frontier 
settlements  as  tigers  do  the  jungles.  To  the  latter  class,  the 
prospect  of  an  Indian  war  held  out  the  allurements  of  plunder 
and  rapine;  while  among  the  more  honest,  hardy  settlers,  with 
whom  money  was  scarce,  a  war  which  promised  a  large  expen- 
diture of  the  coveted  gold  of  the  government,  was  hailed  with 
satisfaction.  Besides  this,  not  a  few  of  these  had  suffered  in 
person  and  property  from  savage  depredations,  which  they 
thirsted  to  avenge,  while  at  the  same  time  gratifying  the  love 
of  adventure  incident  to  dwellers  in  a  new  country. 

Meanwhile,  the  outrage  committed  upon  the  Menominees 
by  Black  Hawk's  band  had  been  brought  before  the  govern- 
ment in  such  a  form  that  Gen.  Henry  Atkinson  had  been  dis- 
patched to  Fort  Armstrong  with  a  company  of  regular  troops, 


BLACK- HAWK   WAR,   1 832.  365 

to  enforce  the  surrender  of  the  perpetrators.  The  intelligence 
that  the  latter  had  crossed  the  river  did  not  reach  him  until 
seven  days  thereafter. 

Gen.  Atkinson  was  possessed  of  personal  bravery  and  mili- 
tary skill,  but  certainly  in  this  campaign  evinced  as  little 
knowledge  of  the  aboriginal  nature  as  he  did  skill  in  combat- 
ting their  methods  of  war.  While  he  was  not  unnecessarily 
alarmed,  he  could  but  regard  the  invasion  of  Black  Hawk, 
under  the  circumstances,  as  a  warlike  menace  of  no  ordinary 
proportions.  Without  knowing  to  what  extent  other  tribes 
were  expected  to  cooperate  with  him,  he  thought  it  prudent  to 
prepare  for  a  decisive  campaign.  He  therefore  at  once  made 
a  requisition  upon  Gov.  Reynolds  for  a  militia  force  to  support 
the  regulars  in  protecting  the  frontier. 

The  governor  issued  his  call  April  16,  1832,  for  "a  strong 
detachment  of  militia"  to  rendezvous  at  Beardstown,  April  22. 
The  volunteers  were  organized  into  four  regiments,  an  odd 
battalion,  a  spy  battalion,  and  a  foot  battalion,  who  were  placed 
in  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  Samuel  Whiteside.  These  regiments 
were  commanded  respectively  by  Cols.  John  Dewitt,  Jacob  Fry, 
John  Thomas,  and  Samuel  M.  Thompson;  the  spy  battalion 
by  Maj.  James  D.  Henry;  the  odd  battalion  by  Maj.  Thomas 
James,  and  the  foot  battalion  by  Maj.  Thomas  Long.  The 
governor's  aides  were  Cols.  James  T.  B.  Stapp,  and  Joseph  M. 
Chadwick.  James  Turney,  paymaster-general;  Vital  Jarrot, 
adjutant-general;  Cyrus  Edwards,  ordnance  officer;  William 
Thomas,  quartermaster;  and  Murray  McConnell,  "staff  officer." 

Besides  the  above  organizations,  the  governor  ordered  a  levy 
of  two  hundred  mounted  men  to  guard  the  frontiers  between 
Rock  Island  and  the  Illinois  River,  who  were  placed  -under 
command  of  Maj.  David  Bailey;  and  a  like  number,  to  guard 
the  frontiers  nearer  the  Mississippi,  who  were  commanded  by 
Maj.  Josiah  Stillman.  These  two  last  bodies  of  troops  were 
subsequently  organized  into  the  fifth  regiment.  The  total  force 
thus  called  out,  comprising  forty  companies,  numbered  1935 
men,  rank  and  file — the  regulars  about  one  thousand. 

The  army  began  its  march,  accompanied  by  the  governor, 
April  27,  and  reached  Fort  Armstrong  May  7,  where  the  volun- 
teers  were   mustered   into   the   service  of    the  United    States. 


$66  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Col.  Zachary  Taylor,  afterward  president,  here  reenforced  the 
army  with  the  troops  from  Ft.  Crawford  and  Ft.  Leavenworth 
to  the  number  of  three  hundred.  A  lieutenant  of  one  of  his 
companies  was  Jefferson  Davis,  while  Abraham  Lincoln  com- 
manded a  company  in  the  fourth  regiment  of  volunteers. 

A  story  is  related  of  "old  Zach",  as  he  afterward  came  to  be 
called,  that  upon  ordering  an  advance  movement  in  which  he 
did  not  feel  certain  of  the  conduct  of  the  volunteers,  some  of 
whom  seemed  to  hesitate,  he  rode  out  in  front  of  them  and 
made  them  a  little  speech.  He  said  "Soldiers,  the  order  you 
have  just  heard  must  be  promptly  obeyed.  The  safety  of  all 
depends  upon  the  obedience  and  courage  of  all.  You  are  citi- 
zen soldiers,  some  of  you  may  fill  high  offices,  or  even  be 
president  some  day,  but  not  if  you  refuse  to  do  your  duty. 
Forward,  march!"  Himself  and  one  of  his  hearers — the  great 
Lincoln — must  have  remembered  that  speech  in  after  years,  as 
well  as  he,  afterward  his  son-in-law,  who  presided  over  the 
so-called  Southern  Confederacy. 

The  army  was  divided  into  two  wings,  one  of  which,  under 
Atkinson,  proceeded  up  Rock  River  by  boats,  while  the  other, 
under  Whiteside,  marched  by  land  along  the  eastern  bank. 
The  stream  was  swollen,  the  ground  a  swamp;  and  the  hard- 
ships and  fatigues  encountered  by  both  bodies  were  severe  and 
trying.  Whiteside's  force  was  the  first  to  reach  the  Prophet's 
village.  This  they  found  deserted  by  Black  Hawk,  the  Prophet, 
and  all  their  followers.  Pushing  forward,  despite  the  lack  of 
needed  rest,  the  volunteers  reached  Dixon's  on  May  12,  tired, 
hungry,  wet,  and  comparatively  destitute  of  supplies.  At 
this  point  they  were  met  by  the  two  battalions  of  independent 
rangers,  under  command  of  Majs.  Stillman  and  Bailey,  who  had 
joined  themselves  together,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  more 
speedy  and  brilliant  results.  These  untried  militiamen  had 
great  confidence  in  their  prowess,  and  ability  to  annihilate 
the  foe  at  the  first  onset.  They  had  an  abundance  of  both 
supplies  and  ammunition,  and  as  they  refused  to  attach  them- 
selves to  the  main  body,  Gov.  Reynolds  ordered  them  to 
advance  to  "the  head  of  Old  Man's  Creek,"  where  there  were 
supposed  to  be  some  hostile  Indians  whom  they  were  "to 
coerce  into  submission."    On  the  fourteenth  they  encamped  in  a 


BLACK -HAWK   WAR.  367 

strong  position  containing  rare  advantages  for  attack  or  defence. 

Meanwhile,  Black  Hawk  had  been  sadly  disappointed  by  the 
failure  of  the  Winnebagos  and  Pottawatomies  to  rally  to  his 
standard,  and  the  chief  was  beginning  to  suspect  treachery. 
Some  years  afterward  he  himself  declared  that  he  had,  at  this 
time,  fully  made  up  his  mind  to  re-cross  the  Mississippi  and 
never  return  to  its  eastern  bank.  While  in  this  mood,  he  was 
informed  that  a  company  of  white  horsemen  had  encamped 
some  six  miles  away.  He -supposed  this  to  be  Atkinson's  force, 
although  in  reality  it  was  the  275  rangers  under  Stillman. 
Black  Hawk  at  once  dispatched  an  envoy  of  three  young 
braves  to  inform  Atkinson  that  he  was  ready  to  meet  him  in 
council  at  the  latter's  camp.  Five  other  braves  were  sent  at  a 
safe  distance  to  watch  the  result  of  the  interview.  The  bearers 
of  the  flag  of  truce  were  descried  about  a  mile  from  the 
ranger's  camp  and  captured.  The  five  spies  were  also  sighted 
and  pursued  and  two  of  their  number  slain.  It  is  difficult  to 
account  for  the  perpetration  of  an  outrage  so  cruel  and  a  viola- 
tion of  the  rules  of  war  so  flagrant  except  upon  the  theory — 
confirmed  by  statements  made  at  the  time — that  many  of  the 
rangers  were  excited  and  maddened  by  liquor.  The  three 
Indians  who  escaped  fled  to  the  camp  where  Black  Hawk  was 
preparing  to  depart  himself,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  attend  the 
interview  which  he  had  proposed.  Great  was  the  rage  of  the 
old  chief  when  he  learned  the  fate  of  his  ambassadors.  He 
tore  into  tatters  the  flag  which  his  hands  had  held,  and  ear- 
nestly appealed  to  his  men  to  follow  him  and  avenge  the  blood 
of  those  who  had  been  thus  wantonly  slaughtered. 

At  this  time  he  had  with  him  but  forty  braves  of  his  own 
tribe,  his  Pottawatomie  allies  being  encamped  some  seven  miles 
away,  and  those  of  the  latter  tribe  who  were  his  guests  decid- 
ing to  preserve  a  position  of  neutrality  at  once  departed  for 
their  villages.  When  the  white  rangers  saw  the  band  approach- 
ing, they  charged  wildly  forward — a  disorderly,  undisciplined 
mob.  The  crafty  Black  Hawk  ordered  his  men  to  retire  into 
ambush  and  stand  firm.  The  fiery  courage  of  the  advancing 
party  began  to  cool  when  they  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  grim- 
visaged,  dusky  warriors,  and  they  came  to  a  halt.  The  pause 
was  fatal.     The  Hawk  raised  the  blood-curdling  warwhoop  of 


2,68  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

the  Sacs  and  the  little  party  of  Indians  rushed  forward  and 
fired.     Stillman's  men  did  not  wait  for  a  second  volley. 

The  gallant  275  incontinently  turned  tail  and  fled.  The  pre- 
cipitation of  the  rout  was  equalled  only  by  its  completeness. 
Madly  they  dashed  through  their  own  camp,  the  contents  of 
which  were  abandoned.  Neither  swamps  nor  swollen  streams 
served  to  check  the  impetuosity  of  their  retreat.  A  gallant 
stand  was  made  by  Maj.  Perkins  and  Capt.  Adams  with  fifteen 
men,  but  to  no  purpose.  Singly  and  in  squads  the  fugitives 
arrived  at  Dixon's,  thirty  miles  away,  from  whence  many  of 
them  continued  their  mad  gallop  forty  or  fifty  miles  to  their 
homes.  Through  all  the  country  which  they  traversed  they 
spread  the  story  that  the  dreaded  Hawk,  at  the  head  of  2000 
blood-thirsty  braves,  was  descending  in  one  fell  swoop  upon 
the  unprotected,  outlying  hamlets  to  the  north.  Conster- 
nation reigned  supreme.  The  settlers  who  had  returned  to 
their  farms,  once  more  sought  shelter  in  the  forts,  and  the  name 
of  Black  Hawk  became  a  menace  and  a  dread  in  every  house- 
hold. The  actual  loss  of  the  whites  in  the  rout,  greatly  exag- 
gerated at  the  time,  was  eleven  killed  and  two  wounded — that 
of  the  Indians  the  two  spies  before  mentioned  and  one  of  the 
flag  bearers.* 

On  May  19,  the  entire  army  under  Atkinson  proceeded  up 
Rock  River,  the  remnant  of  Stillman's  rangers  being  left  at 
Dixon's  to  guard  the  wounded.  But  the  men  who  had  fled 
panic-stricken  before  an  insignificant  force,  put  the  finishing 
touch  to  their  record  by  deserting  their  post  as  soon  as  Atkin- 
son was  out  of  sight.  Yet  these  men  properly  officered  and 
disciplined  might  have  made  the  best  soldiers  in  the  world. 
Learning  of  this  fresh  act  of  perfidy,  Atkinson  with  the  regu- 
lars returned  to  Dixon's,  instructing  Whiteside  with  his  brigade 
to  follow  Black  Hawk. 

The  Sac  commander,  highly  elated  at  his  easy  and  unex- 
pected victory,  had,  after  enriching  himself  with  the  abun- 
dant spoils  of  Stillman's  deserted  camp,  retired  up  the  Kish- 

*  List  of  casualties :  killed,  Capt.  John  G.  Adams,  Sergt.  John  Walters,  Corp. 
Bird  W.  Ellis;  Privates:  David  Kreeps,  Zadoc  Mendenall,  Isaac  Perkins,  Joseph 
Draper,  Tames  Milton,  Tynes  M.  Child,  Joseph  B.  Farris,  and  Gideon  Munson, 
scout;  wounded:  Sergeants  Reding  Putnam  and  Jesse  Dickey. 


BLACK -HAWK   WAR.  369 

vvaukee  to  the  swamps  of  Lake  Koshkonong.  Here  he  left  the 
women  and  children  of  the  tribe,  and  once  more  returned  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  Rock  River,  gathering  recruits  from  the 
Pottawatomies  and  Winnebagos  as  he  advanced. 

He  divided  his  force  into  small  bands.  The  largest  of  these 
— numbering  about  200 — was  under  his  own  leadership.  In 
addition,  about  100  Pottawatomies  were  commanded  by  a 
disreputable  half-breed  named  Mike  Girty,  while  desultory 
troops  of  Winnebagos  swept  down  upon  defenceless  homes, 
killing,  scalping,  and  outraging  wherever  it  seemed  safe.  The 
most  noted  of  these  forays  was  the  massacre  upon  Indian 
Creek  in  LaSalle  County.  Hereon  May  21,  thirty  Indians — 
a  mixed  band — rushed  into  the  house  of  Wm.  Davis  and  killed 
all  of  its  occupants  except  Sylvia  and  Rachael  Hall,  aged 
respectively  17  and   15  years,  whom  they  made  prisoners.* 

In  the  meantime  the  Illinois  volunteers  became  so  much 
dissatisfied  with  the  results  so  far  attained  that  a  majority  of 
them  refused  to  proceed.  The  discontent  was  wide-spread, 
affecting  every  company  more  or  less.  They  declared  that  they 
did  not  enlist  to  follow  the  Indians  into  the  bogs  and  swamps  of 
Michigan  (Wisconsin),  that  such  an  expedition  would  be  useless, 
and  besides,  that  their  term  of  service  had  expired.  Whiteside 
expostulated  with  them  and  begged  them  to  go  on,  but  without 
effect,  and  after  a  counsel  of  war  and  a  general  consultation 
among  the  men,  it  was  decided  to  return  to  Ottawa,  where  on 
May  28,  the  37  companies  of  Whiteside's  army  were  mustered 
out  by  Lieut.  Robert  Anderson  of  Fort  Sumter  fame. 

But  one  course  remained  open  to  Gov.  Reynolds.  He  at 
once  issued  a  third  proclamation  calling,  this  time,  for  2000 
men,  whose  enlistment  was  to  be  for  the  war.  In  addition, 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott  was  ordered  to  proceed  with  1000  regulars 
from  the  East. 

Pending  the  completion  of  these  arrangements,  at  the  per- 
sonal solicitation  of  Gov.  Reynolds  and  Gen.  Atkinson,  a 
regiment  of  300  volunteer  rangers  had  been  recruited  for  twenty 

*  The  killed  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wm.  Hall  and  daughter  Elizabeth,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wm.  Pettegrew  and  two  children,  Mrs.  Wm.  Davis  and  five  children.  The  following 
were  killed  outside :  Wm.  Davis,  Robert  Norris,  and  Emory  George — sixteen  in  all. 
The  prisoners  were  subsequently  ransomed. 
24 


370  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

days  from  the  companies  just  disbanded.  It  was  officered  by- 
Col.  Jacob  Fry,  Lieut.-Col.  James  D.  Henry,  and  Maj.  John 
Thomas.  The  five  companies  composing  the  regiment  were 
commanded  by  Capts.  Adam  W.  Snyder,  Samuel  Smith,  W.  C. 
Ralls,  Benj.  James,  and  Elijah  lies.  Gen.  Whiteside  enlisted 
as  a  private  and  showed  himself  as  willing  to  obey  as  he  was 
able  to  command.  Abraham  Lincoln  also  reenlisted  as  a 
private. 

In  addition  to  this  regiment  of  Col.  Fry,  five  companies  from 
Putnam  County,  commanded  by  Capt.  Robert  Barnes,  William 
Hawes,  William  M.  Stewart,  and  George  B.  Willis,  aggregating 
195  men,  were  organized  into  a  regiment  commanded  by  Col. 
John  Strawn;  and  also  eight  companies  from  Vermilion  County, 
under  Capts.  Eliakin  Ashton,  Alex.  Bailey,  J.  M.  Gillespie, 
James  Gregory,  Corbin  R.  Hutt,  James  Palmer,  Morgan  L. 
Payne,  and  John  B.  Thomas,  were  organized  into  a  regiment 
commanded  by  Col.  Isaac  R.  Moore,  with  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard 
as  lieutenant-colonel;  and  the  independent  companies  of  Capts. 
Cyrus  Matthews,  George  McFadden,  John  Stennet,  M.  L. 
Covill,  John  S.  Wilbourn,  and  Aaron  Armstrong,  were  accepted 
and  all  the  above  ordered  to  do  guard-duty  from  May  28  to 
June  19. 

The  new  volunteers  called  out  by  the  governor  rendezvoused 
at  Fort  Wilbourn,  near  Peru,  June  15.  They  were  organized 
into  three  brigades,  composed  of  three  regiments  and  a  spy  bat- 
talion each.  The  first  of  these,  915  strong,  elected  Alex.  Posey 
as  its  commander,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  John 
A.  McClernand,  now  general,  was  a  member  of  his  staff.  The 
second  regiment  elected  as  their  officers,  John  Ewing,  colonel, 
John  Raum,  major;  officers  of  other  regiments  not  known. 
Maj.  John  Dement,  father  of  Henry  D.  the  present  secretary  of 
state,  was  elected  from  the  ranks  to  command  the  spy  battal- 
ion. Stinson  H.  Anderson,  afterward  lieutenant-governor,  was 
adjutant,  and  Lieut. -Gov.  Z.  Casey,  paymaster. 

The  second  brigade  was  commanded  by  Gen.  Milton  K. 
Alexander,  and  the  spy  battalion  by  Maj.  William  McHenry. 

The  third  brigade  elected  Gen.  James  D.  Henry  as  its  com- 
mander. The  first  regiment  was  commanded  by  Col.  S.  T. 
Matthews,  Lieut.-Col.  James  Gillham,  Maj.  James  Evans,  Adjt. 


BLACK -HAWK   WAR.  37  I 

William  Weatherford,  Quartermaster  Nathan  Hunt,  Paymaster 
Alex.  Bell.  Col.  Gabriel  Jones  commanded  the  third  regiment, 
and  its  lieutenant-colonel  was  Sidney  Breese.  The  spy  battal- 
ion of  this  brigade  was  commanded  by  Maj.  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing. 
The  three  brigades  numbered,  rank  and  file,  3148  volunteers. 

The  governor's  staff,  as  reappointed,  was  as  follows:  aides, 
Cols.  Benj.  F.  Hickman  and  Alex.  F.  Grant,  Judge  T.  W.  Smith, 
adjutant-general,  and  E.  C.  March,  quartermaster-general. 

The  volunteer  force  was  still  further  increased  by  a  battalion 
of  recruits  under  Col.  Henry  Dodge.  Including  the  regular 
troops  the  available  force  of  the  whites  numbered  4000  men. 

A  portion  of  Posey's  brigade  was  ordered  between  Galena 
and  Rock  River.  Alexander's  and  Henry's  brigades,  having 
arrived  at  Dixon,  the  former  was  dispatched  to  Plum  River  to 
intercept  Black  Hawk;  the  latter,  remaining  with  Gen.  Atkin- 
son at  Dixon. 

For  a  time  outbreaks  and  skirmishes  followed  each  other  at 
short  intervals,  resulting  in  the  death  of  many  whites  and  not  a 
few  red  men.  On  June  6,  Black  Hawk  in  person  led  an  attack 
upon  the  fort  at  Apple  River,  fourteen  miles  east  of  Galena, 
defended  by  Capt.  Stone,  but  after  a  brief  engagement,  the 
besieging  party  withdrew,  devastating  the  surrounding  country 
with  torch  and  flame. 

On  June  14,  occurred  the  skirmish  of  Pecatonica,  in  which 
Black  Hawk  was  engaged  with  a  portion  of  Posey's  brigade 
under  Maj.  Dodge,  resulting  in  the  loss  of  three  whites  and 
eleven  Indians. 

The  company  of  Capt.  A.  W.  Snyder,  while  passing  through 
Burr- Oak  Grove,  June  16,  was  suddenly  and  fiercely  attacked 
by  a  party  of  seventy  of  the  enemy.  The  coolness  of  the 
commander  and  the  determined  courage  of  privates  Gen. 
Whiteside  and  Col.  James  Semple  prevented  a  stampede,  and 
order  being  restored  the  savages  were  repulsed,  with  a  loss  to 
the  whites  of  three  killed — that  of  the  Indians  not  known. 

On  June  17,  Capt.  James  W.  Stephenson  had  a  severe  skir- 
mish with  a  party  of  Indians  at  Prairie  Grove  in  which  he  lost 
three  men  killed,  and  two  wounded — the  enemy  losing  one. 

The  battle  of  Kellogg's  Grove  occurred  June  25.  Maj.  John 
Dement  with  his  battalion  had  been  ordered  to  defend  this  post 


3J2  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

by  Col.  Z.  Taylor.  Learning  that  a  large  force  of  the  enemy 
commanded  by  Black  Hawk  himself  was  in  the  vicinity,  he  or- 
dered out  fifty  men  to  reconnoitre.  Upon  sight  of  the  foe  they 
rushed  forward  without  orders  and  as  Dement  soon  perceived 
were  likely  to  fall  into  the  ambush  prepared  for  them.  Before 
he  was  able  to  make  himself,  heard  and  understood  in  his  efforts 
to  stop  the  advance,  .his  men  were  caught  in  the  trap  set,  when 
at  the  entrance  of  a  bushy  ravine,  they  were  met  with  a  warcry 
and  a  sharp  fire,  all  the  more  galling  because  concealed.  The 
strategy  of  the  cunning  leader  of  the  Sacs  was  successful,  and 
terror  and  confusion  reigned  in  the  ranks  of  the  whites.  But 
the  gallant  Dement,  whose  bravery  was  equalled  only  by  his 
coolness  and  comprehension  of  the  situation,  ably  seconded  by 
Lieut.-Gov.  Zadoc  Casey,  rallied  his  fleeing  forces  to  repeated 
stands,  fearlessly  presenting  himself  in  exposed  positions,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  withdrawing  his  command  within  the  stock- 
ades. Here  the  attack  was  renewed,  the  principal  result  being 
the  killing  of  47  horses,  which  had  been  left  hitched  outside 
by  the  beleaguered  party.  The  loss  of  the  whites  was  four 
killed  and  two  wounded;  that  of  the  Indians,  reported  at  six- 
teen killed.* 

On  June  27,  Gen.  Atkinson,  supposing  that  the  headquarters 
of  the  Sacs  were  still  at  Lake  Koshkonong,  left  Dixon  with 
the  main  army  2600  strong,  the  volunteers  being  commanded 
by  Gen.  Henry.  Oh  the  30th,  he  crossed  the  State  line,  one 
mile  east  of  Beloit.  The  army  reached  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Koshkonong,  July  2,  but  no  enemy  was  found,  it  being  now 
supposed  that  Black  Hawk  had  gone  to  his  stronghold  near 

*  As  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  those  who  fell  in  this  battle  and  in  other  skir- 
mishes in  this  vicinity,  the  county  of  Stephenson  erected  a  monument  over  their 
collected  remains,  on  the  battlefield,  now  called  Timmis  Grove,  which  was  dedicated 
Sept.  30,  18S6,  by  the  Wm.  R.  Goddard  Post  G.  A.  R.  of  Lena.  The  monument, 
consists  of  a  single  shaft  constructed  of  yellowish,  flinty  limestone,  quarried  near  by, 
rising  thirty-four  feet,  resting  on  a  suitable  base.  Into  the  sides  of  the  shaft  are  sunk 
marble  slabs  containing  appropriate  inscriptions — the  names  honored  are  as  follows: 
Wm.  B.  Mahenson,  Benjamin  McDaniels,  and  a  little  drummer-boy  Bennie  Scott, 
killed  in  the  skirmish  of  Burr- Oak  Grove;  Wm.  Darley,  killed  May  19;  George 
Eames,  Stephen  P.  Howard,  and  Micheal  Lovell,  killed  in  the  battle  of  Prairie 
Grove;  Felix  St.Vrain,  and  Hale,  Fowler,  and  Hally,  (christian  names  not  known,) 
killed  near  the  monument  while  carrying  dispatches;  and  Wm.  Allen,  James  P. 
Band,  James  Black,  and  Abner  Bradford,  killed  in  the  battle  of  Kellogg's  Grove. 


BLACK- HAWK   WAR.  373 

the  mouth  of  the  Kishwaukee  River.  Two  days  after,  Gen. 
Alexander  arrived  with  his  brigade,  and  on  the  6th,  Posey 
reported  with  his  and  Dodge's  commands. 

The  Winnebagos — some  of  whom  had  connected  themselves 
with  the  latter's  force — were  undoubtedly  plotting  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  entire  army  by  giving  erroneous  information. 
The  chief  who  joined  Dodge  magnanimously  offered  to  guide 
him  directly  to  the  camp  of  the  hostile  Sacs  on  Bark  River, 
a  stream  which  flowed  into  Lake  Koshkonong  from  the  east. 
Meanwhile  an  old  one-eyed  Winnebago,  who  claimed  to  be 
a  chief,  named  Decori,  had  volunteered  to  pilot  Gen.  Atkin- 
son to  their  secret  hiding-place,  which  he  located  at  a  dif- 
ferent spot.  As  superior  in  command,  Gen.  Atkinson  sent 
orders  to  Dodge  to  join  him  at  once.  Much  disappointed 
at  the  loss  of  an  apparent  opportunity  to  meet  the  enemy^ 
the  latter,  with  true  military  subordination,  obeyed,  and  to 
this  circumstance  may  be  attributed  his  fortunate  escape  from 
an  ambush,  in  which  it  is  not  unlikely  his  whole  command 
would  have  perished.  While,  however,  the  army  was  running 
about  for  several  days  vainly  looking  for  Black  Hawk  and 
his  followers,  the  savage  had  fled  from  an  almost  inaccessible 
position  on  the  east  bank  of  Rock  River,  where  he  had  been 
encamped  at  the  top  of  a  steep  bluff. 

At  this  juncture,  Gov.  Reynolds,  and  a  portion  of  his  staff, 
becoming  discouraged  at  what  they  deemed  a  fruitless  pursuit, 
determined  to  "quit  soldiering"  and  return  to  the  more  con- 
genial pursuits  of  civil  life. 

On  July  10,  the  army  was  again  divided.  Alexander  and 
Henry,  with  their  forces,  were  sent  to  Fort  Winnebago,  for 
supplies.  Col.  Ewing,  with  the  second  regiment  of  Posey's 
brigade,  descended  the  Rock  River  to  Dixon,  the  rest  of  this 
division  being  sent,  under  Posey  himself,  to  Fort  Hamilton,  to 
protect  the  mining  region.  Atkinson  and  his  regulars  having 
retired  to  Lake  Koshkonong,  erected  temporary  fortifications 
on  the  Bark  River,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  present  village 
of  Fort  Atkinson. 

While  at  Fort  Winnebago,  the  officers  ascertained  from 
Pierre  Poquette,  a  well-known  half-breed  scout  and  trader,  the 
true  location  of   Black    Hawk's    camp.     Henry  and  Dodge  at 


374  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

once  resolved  to  return  to  Atkinson  by  this  route,  and  engage 
the  chief  in  battle,  if  possible.  Gen.  Alexander's  men  refused 
to  join  in  the  expedition,  returning  by  the  most  direct  route, 
and  the  officers  named  proceeded  without  them,  having  an 
aggregate  force  of  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Poqu- 
ette  and  a  dozen  Winnebagos  acted  as  guides.  On  July  18, 
arriving  at  the  spot  where  they  had  expected  to  find  the 
enemy,  no  Sacs  were  to  be  seen.  The  Indians  of  the  village 
declared  that  they  had  gone  to  Cranberry,  now  Horicon,  Lake, 
about  a  half-day's  march  up  the  river.  Atkinson's  camp  was 
thirty-five  miles  distant,  and  adjutants  Merriam  and  W.  W. 
Woodbridge  were  dispatched  thither  with  information  to  the 
commander.  After  proceeding  a  few  miles  on  their  way,  they 
discovered  a  broad,  fresh  trail  leading  westward. 

When  Gen.  Henry  learned  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  followers 
had  turned  their  faces  toward  the  Mississippi,  and  perceived  that 
they  were  actually  in  flight,  the  enthusiasm  of  his  command  was 
unbounded.  The  pursuit  was  begun  without  delay,  and  pushed 
with  the  utmost  energy.  Wading  through  swamps  and  some- 
times through  water  up  to  their  armpits,  the  volunteers  hurried 
forward,  cheered  by  information,  gathered  from  hungry  and 
footsore  Winnebago  deserters,  that  the  enemy  was  but  a  few 
miles  in  advance.  Exhausted  horses  had  been  abandoned,  and 
camp  equipage  and  other  incumbrances  cast  aside,  while  along 
the  trail  were  seen  Indian  kettles,  blankets  and  other  parapher- 
nalia, hastily  thrown  away  to  insure  greater  speed.  Marching 
across  the  site  of  Madison,  the  present  capital  of  Wisconsin, 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  July  21,  the  Indian  rear 
guard  under  Neapope  was  overtaken  and  skirmishing  began 
and  continued  until  the  bluff  of  the  Wisconsin  River  was 
reached.  Neapope  had  with  him  about  twenty  warriors,  but 
an  hour  later  these  were  reenforced  by  a  like  number  under  the 
Hawk — who  determined  to  make  a  bold  stand,  and  cover 
the  retreat  of  the  main  body — himself  seated  on  a  white 
pony  directing  the  battle.  There  was  some  hot  firing,  with 
about  equal  loss  on  both  sides,  when  the  Sacs  made  a  charge, 
which  was  repulsed  with  loss,  by  the  troops  under  Cols.  Fry 
and  Jones.  The  Indians  now  fell  back  into  the  tall  grass,  and 
kept  up  the  firing  unseen,  for  some  time  until  Dodge,  Ewing, 


BLACK -HAWK   WAR.  375 

and  Jones  drove  them  with  the  bayonet  to  some  rising  ground, 
where  was  encountered  a  fresh  band  of  savages.  Here  another 
charge  compelled  their  retreat  down  the  bluffs  where  they  joined 
the  non-combatants,  now  engaged  in  crossing  the  river. 

Thus  ended  the  battle  of  Wisconsin  Heights,  in  which  the 
loss  of  the  Indians,  though  variously  stated  at  the  time  to 
have  been  from  forty  to  sixty-eight,  was  really,  as  reported  by 
Black  Hawk,  only  six  killed,  while  that  of  the  whites  was  one 
man  killed  and  eight  wounded. 

That  night  the  Indians  placed  upon  a  raft  and  in  canoes  a 
large  number  of  their  women,  children,  and  old  men,  and 
sent  them  down  the  river,  believing  that  the  regular  troops 
at  Fort  Crawford,  which  guarded  the  mouth  of  the  Wis- 
consin, would  permit  them  to  cross  the  Mississippi  at  that 
point.  Learning  of  their  approach,  Indian  agent  Street  dis- 
patched Lieut.  Ritner  with  a  few  regulars  to  intercept  them. 
Mercilessly  were  his  orders  obeyed.  A  fire  from  the  troops 
killed  fifteen,  while  thirty-two  women  and  children  and  four 
men  were  made  prisoners.  About  fifty  were  drowned,  and  of 
those  who  fled  into  the  woods  not  more  than  a  dozen  escaped 
death  through  exposure  and  starvation,  or  massacre  by  a  band 
of  Menominee  allies  under  Col.  Samuel  C.  Stambaugh  and  a 
few  white  officers.     Truly  it  was  a  glorious  achievement ! 

On  the  next  morning  the  victorious  army  of  the  Wisconsin 
Heights  discovered  that  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy  had 
escaped.  The  soldiers  remained  on  the  field  all  day,  sleeping 
on  their  arms  during  the  following  night,  and  on  the  23d 
started  for  the  Blue  Mounds  to  join  Gen.  Atkinson. 

On  July  28,  a  junction  of  all  the  troops,  regulars  and  volun- 
teers, was  effected  at  Helena,  a  deserted  village  on  the  Wiscon- 
sin River.  The  logs  of  the  cabins  were  converted  into  rafts  on 
which  the  army  crossed  the  river.  As  the  trail  of  the  savages 
was  followed  across  steep,  wooded  hills,  marshy  ravines,  and 
swollen  streams,  evidences  of  the  sufferings  of  the  fugitives 
multiplied.  Trees  were  found  stripped  of  their  bark  which  had 
been  devoured  by  the  famished  wretches,  together  with  the  meat 
cut  from  the  carcasses  of  their  dead  ponies,  while  here  and  there 
along  the  march  was  found  the  lifeless  body  of  a  brave  who 
had  literally  fallen  from  starvation. 


376  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

But  Black  Hawk  reached  the  Mississippi  in  advance  of  his 
pursuers,  at  a  point  forty  miles  from  the  Wisconsin  River,  at 
the  mouth  of  an  insignificant  stream  known  as  the  Bad  Axe. 
Very  few  canoes  were  obtainable  and  the  work  of  ferrying  the 
half-starved  remnant  of  his  depleted  band  was  a  tedious  and 
difficult  task.  Suddenly,  the  military  transport  Warrior  ap- 
peared on  the  scene,  as  she  was  returning  from  an  expedition 
undertaken  to  warn  the  Sioux  of  the  approach  of  the  Sacs. 
Fifteen  regulars  and  six  volunteers  were  aboard,  under  Lieuts. 
Holmes  and  Kingsbury.  Black  Hawk  displayed  a  white  flag, 
evidenced  his  readiness  to  surrender,  and  asked  that  a  boat  be 
sent  ashore.  The  officer  was  fearful  of  an  ambush  and  replied 
that  the  chief  must  come  aboard  the  steamer.  The  latter 
attempted  to  explain  that  this  was  impossible  on  account  of 
the  want  of  a  canoe.  At  once  three  deadly  volleys  of  canister 
were  discharged  from  the  steamer,  causing  no  little  havoc 
among  the  few  Indians  on  the  shore.  An  exchange  of  firing 
followed,  resulting  in  the  killing  of  one  white  man  and  twenty- 
three  Indians.  Having  accomplished  this  gallant  feat,  the 
Warrior,  which  needed  fuel,  returned  to  Prairie  du  Chien. 
After  the  departure  of  the  steamer,  the  work  of  ferriage  was 
resumed  and  a  few  more  canoe  loads  transported  across  the 
river.  But  here  Black  Hawk,  seeing  that  further  resistance 
was  entirely  hopeless,  during  the  night,  in  company  with  the 
Prophet  and  a  party  of  squaws  and  children,  deserted  the 
remainder  of  the  tribe  and  fled,  precipitately,  to  the  east,  where 
some  Winnebagos  offered  to  hide  him. 

On  the  morning  of  August  2,  the  trcfops  under  Gen.  Henry, 
forming  the  left  wing  of  the  army,  came  upon  the  Indians  yet 
remaining  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  and  began  the  attack. 
Atkinson  soon  arrived  with  the  main  army,  and  for  three  hours 
was  witnessed  a  scene  of  carnage  as  appalling  as  it  was  revolt- 
ing. No  mercy  was  shown — only  the  bleaching  bones  of  mas- 
sacred whites  were  remembered.  Bayonet  charges  drove  the 
frightened,  feeble  Indians  into  the  tops  of  trees  and  into  the 
river.  Sharpshooters  picked  off,  with  unerring  aim,  warriors, 
women,  and  children  alike.  The  troops  on  the  Warrior  re- 
turned and  nobly  sustained  their  record  of  the  previous  day 
by  pouring  canister  into  the  mob  of  fleeing  savages.     Yet  the 


BATTLE   OF   THE   BAD   AXE.  377 

Indian  braves,  with  a  heroism  worthy  of  stoic  philosophers, 
perished  like  warriors  with  their  faces  toward  the  foe.  The 
conflict  against  odds  so  overwhelming  was  virtually  one  of 
useless  resistance  on  the  one  hand  and  of  wanton  extermina- 
tion on  the  other.  Twenty  whites  were  killed  and  twelve 
wounded,  while  of  the  Indians  one  hundred  and  fifty  were 
killed  outright,  and  about  the  same  number  drowned.  As 
the  "  battle "  neared  its  close,  the  venerable  chief  of  the 
hostile  Sacs,  who  heard  the  firing,  and  whose  heart  smote 
him  on  account  of  his  desertion  of  his  followers,  returned.  He 
was  in  time  to  witness  the  completion  of  the  ruin  which  he  was 
powerless  to  avert.  With  a  yell,  in  which  he  voiced  the  rage 
and  disappointment  which  he  could  not  conceal,  he  once  more 
fled  back  into  the  trackless  wilderness. 

Some  forty  prisoners  were  taken,  nearly  all  women,  and 
about  three  hundred,  in  all,  escaped  to  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi.  Most  of  the  latter  were  non-combatants;  all  of 
them  were  helpless  from  hunger  and  exhaustion;  and  not  a  few 
suffering  from  undressed  wounds.  They  were  now,  however, 
where  they  had  been  repeatedly  ordered  to  go,  and  doubtless 
they  fancied  themselves  secure  from  further  molestation. 
But  with  a  vindictiveness  and  cruelty  unworthy  of  civilized 
warfare,  Gen.  Atkinson  had  instructed  a  band  of  one  hundred 
Sioux,  under  Wabasha,  to  attack  them,  and  nearly  one-half  of 
this  wretched  remnant  were  ruthlessly  slain.  Of  the  remainder 
many  more  perished  before  they  reached  the  homes  of  Keokuk, 
and  the  others  of  their  tribe  who  had  refused  to  follow  Black 
Hawk. 

On  August  15,  the  volunteers  were  mustered  out  at  Dixon, 
having  been  disbanded  by  Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  who  had  by 
that  date  arrived  at  Prairie  du  Chien  and  assumed  command. 
His  tardy  appearance  on  the  scene  was  due  to  the  ravages  of 
cholera  among  his  troops  at  Detroit,  Chicago,  and  Rock  Island. 
About  250  regulars  perished  through  this  scourge,  and  about 
an  equal  number  of  troops  and  settlers  were  killed  in  skirmishes 
and  Indian  massacres.  The  pecuniary  cost  of  the  struggle  was 
about  $2,000,000.  And  thus  ended  the  Black -Hawk  War, 
which  was  brought  on  by  the  interference  of  the  State  authori- 
ties, with  those  of  the  United  States,  upon  the  false  pretenses 


378  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  clamorous  demands  of  a  few  interloping  squatters,  who 
were  themselves  in  the  wrong.  But  for  this  interference,  the 
whole  difficulty  with  the  Sac  chief  might  have  been  settled  by 
the  payment  of  a  few  thousand  dollars,  and  his  peaceable 
transfer  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  River  effected. 

Black  Hawk  gave  himself  up  to  the  Winnebagos,  who  surren- 
dered him  to  Indian-agent  Street  on  August  27.  On  September 
21,  the  formal  treaty  of  peace  was  signed.  Black  Hawk,  Nea- 
pope,  and  the  Prophet,  who  had  certainly  forfeited  his  claim 
to  seership,  were  detained  as  hostages,  and  imprisoned  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  from  April,  1833,  until  June  4.  The  distin- 
guished guests  of  the  Nation  were  then  taken  on  a  tour  of 
inspection  through  the  principal  eastern  cities.  On  August  1, 
they  were  returned  to  Fort  Armstrong,  where  Black  Hawk  was 
formally  made  the  ward  of  Keokuk.  This  committal,  the  aged 
Sac  regarded  as  the  crowning  indignity  which  had  been  heaped 
upon  his  whitened  head.  For  five  years  his  proud  spirit  chafed, 
until  October  3,  1838,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  he  bade  a  final 
adieu  to  a  world  in  which  he  had  found  only  disappointment 
for  his  most  cherished  schemes.  A  reservation  had  been  set 
apart  for  him  in  Davis  County,  Iowa,  and  here  he  died.  It  is 
said  that  within  nine  months  his  skeleton  was  stolen  and  sold. 
After  what,  in  the  case  of  a  living  man,  might  be  termed 
various  mishaps,  it  finally  adorned  the  walls  of  the  rooms  of 
the  Burlington  (Iowa)  Historical  Society,  where  in  1855,  it  was 
destroyed  by  fire.* 

*  The  following  authorities  have  been  consulted  in  writing  the  foregoing  chapter: 
"Life  of  Black  Hawk,"  by  Benj.  Drake;  "History  of  the  Black-Hawk  War,"  by 
John  A.  Wakefield;  "Life  of  Black  Hawk,"  dictated  by  himself;  Reynolds'  "My 
Own  Times";  Ford's  "History  of  Illinois";  "The  Sauks  and  the  Black-Hawk  War;" 
by  Perry  A.  Armstrong;  "The  Black-Hawk  War,"  by  Reuben  G.  Thwaites,  in  Vol. 
V,  "Magazine  of  Western  History." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Elections — Eighth  General  Assembly — Receipts  and  Ex- 
penditures— Commercial  Progress — Social  Changes. 

THE  Black-Hawk  War  made  the  political  fortune  of  a  large 
number  of  aspiring  statesmen.  Although  it  did  not 
close  in  time  for  many  of  them  to  participate  personally  in  the 
election  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  August  (6),  they  were 
represented  by  their  friends,  and  met  with  but  little  difficulty 
in  securing  the  positions  sought. 

Charles  Slade,  Zadoc  Casey,  and  Joseph  Duncan,  all  of  them 
pronounced  Jackson  men,  were  elected  to  congress  from  the 
first,  second,  and  third  (new)  districts  respectively. 

The  eighth  general  assembly  convened  Dec.  3,  1832.  The 
senate,  numbering  twenty-six,  was  divided  about  equally  be- 
tween old  and  new  members.  Among  the  former  were  Wm.  B. 
Archer,  Joseph  Conway,  James  Evans,  Elijah  lies,  Adam  W. 
Snyder,  and  Conrad  Will;  among  the  latter  were  Wm.  H.  David- 
son, Henry  I.  Mills,  James  M.  Strode,  and  Archibald  Williams. 
Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  Thomas  Mather,  George  Forquer,  and  Thos. 
Rattan  had  been  transferred  from  the  lower  to  the  upper 
house  The  house  of  representatives  was  composed  almost 
entirely  of  new  members.  Peter  Cartwright,  Michael  Jones, 
formerly  of  the  senate,  Edmund  D.  Taylor,  James  A.  and  John 
D.  Whiteside,  were  among  the  old  ones;  and  John  Dougherty, 
Cyrus  Edwards,  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  Benjamin  Mills,  Wm.  A. 
Minshall,  James  Semple,  John  Todd  Stuart,  and  Murray  Mc- 
Connell — all  of  them  wearing  laurels  won  in  the  late  war — were 
among  the  new. 

Alexander  M.  Jenkins  was  elected  speaker  of  the  house,  and 
David  Prickett  reelected  clerk.  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  jr.,  was 
chosen  secretary  of  the  senate,  and  Wm.  Weatherford,  sergeant- 
at-arms. 

The  governor,  in  his  message  to  the  legislature,  after  congrat- 
ulating the  people  on  the  satisfactory  termination  of  the  late 
war,  made  the  following  recommendations:  1.  The  establishment 

379 


380  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

of  a  system  of  common  schools;  2.  The  improvement  of  the 
Chicago  harbor — "that  it  be  made  a  good  one";  3.  The  connec- 
tion of  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  River  with  Lake  Michigan, 
either  by  a  railroad  or  canal,  his  own  preference  being  in  favor 
of  the  former.  He  closed  with  a  strong  appeal  to  support  the 
president  in  his  controversy  with  South  Carolina — in  favor  of 
the  union  of  the  states  "as  the  pride  and  support  of  every 
American,"  and  denouncing  the  "dangerous  doctrine  of  nullifi- 
cation." 

The  first  general  acts  of  incorporation  were  passed  at  this 
session,  providing  for  the  organization  of  towns,  and  public 
libraries.  The  subject  of  building  railroads,  also,  for  the  first 
time  received  attention,  among  the  routes  proposed  being  one 
from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Illinois  River,  instead  of  the  canal; 
one  across  the  centre  of  the  State  through  Springfield,  and 
anticipating  the  Illinois-Central,  one  from  Peru  to  Cairo. 
Several  charters  authorizing  the  incorporation  of  railroad  com- 
panies were  granted,  but  no  organizations  under  them  were 
ever  perfected.  It  is  a  significant  fact,  however,  that  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  of  Illinois  was  thus  early  directed  to  the 
adoption  of  this  improved,  but  yet  tentative,  method  of  trans- 
portation. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  this  general  assembly,  however, 
was  the  impeachment  of  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  one  of  the 
justices  of  the  supreme  court.  Five  distinct  charges  were 
preferred  against  him  by  the  house,  involving  oppressive  con- 
duct, corruption,  and  other  misdemeanors.  The  senate  resolved 
itself  into  a  high  court  of  impeachment,  and  the  proceedings 
were  characterized  "by  great  decorum  and  solemnity."  The 
managers,  on  the  part  of  the  house,  were  Benjamin  Mills,  John 
T.  Stuart,  James  Semple,  Murray  McConnell,  and  John  Dough- 
erty; the  accused  was  defended  by  Sidney  Breese,  Richard  M. 
Young,  and  Thomas  Ford.  The  trial  lasted  from  January  9  to 
Feb.  7,  1833.  The  specifications  were:  selling  a  circuit-clerk's 
office;  swearing  out  vexatious  writs,  returnable  before  himself, 
for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  innocent  men  by  holding  them 
to  bail;  imprisoning  a  Quaker  for  not  taking  off  his  hat  in 
court;  and  suspending  a  lawyer  from  practice  because  he 
had  advised  his  client  to  apply  for  a  change  of  venue  from 
his  circuit. 


IMPEACHMENT   OF  JUDGE   SMITH.  38 1 

The  trial  was  conducted  with  marked  ability  on  both  sides. 
The  speech  of  Mr.  Mills,  especially,  which  occupied  three  days 
in  its  delivery,  was  pronounced  unsurpassed  for  its  finished 
and  scholarly  eloquence — brilliant  passages  from  which — gems 
of  thought — were  for  a  long  time  after  quoted  upon  the  streets 
of  Vandalia.* 

The  protracted  trial  resulted  in  a  negative  acquittal  of  the 
accused — that  is,  twelve  senators  concurred  in  believing  him 
guilty  of  some  of  the  specifications,  ten  were  in  favor  of  an 
acquittal,  while  four  were  excused  from  voting,  it  requiring  two- 
thirds  to  convict. 

The  prosecution  having  failed,  the  house  of  representatives 
adopted  a  resolution  for  the  removal  of  the  judge  by  address, 
but  in  this  also  the  senate  reTused  to  concur.  And  thus  ended 
the  first  and  last  impeachment  trial  in  this  State. 

The  first  law  providing  for  a  mechanics'  lien  was  passed  at 
this  session;  also  that  concerning  the  "right  of  way"  for  "public 
roads,  canals,  or  other  public  works." 

The  general  assembly  adjourned  March  2. 

The  receipts  and  expenditures  during  Gov.  Reynold's  admin- 
istration, are  shown  in  the  annexed  table.-f- 

*  Gillespie's  Recollections,  in  "Fergus'  Historical  Series,"  No.  13. 

Benjamin  Mills  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  able  lawyers  and 
polished  orators  in  the  State  at  this  time.  His  father  was  an  eminent  Presbyterian 
minister  in  Massachusetts,  from  whence  the  son  immigrated  to  Illinois  in  1819, 
locating  first  at  Greenville,  and  later  at  Galena.  The  celebrated  Felix  Grundy,  who 
was  pitted  against  him  in  a  noted  murder  case,  said  that  it  was  inhuman  to  employ 
a  man  of  such  transcendent  ability  in  the  prosecution — that  it  was  not  giving  the 
accused  a  fair  chance.  He  was  witty  and  as  a  conversationalist  was  the  very  life  and 
soul  of  convivial  gatherings.  As  a  specimen  of  his  ready  humor,  it  was  told  of  him 
that  having  joined  a  temperance  society  and  being  found  soon  after  in  a  grocery 
drinking  out  of  a  wineglass,  instead  of  a  tumbler,  a  friend  said  to  him  "Mills,  I 
thought  you  had  quit  drinking?"  "So  I  have,"  said  he,  holding  up  the  wineglass, 
"  in  a  great  measure. " 

He  ran  for  congress,  as  a  whig,  against  Wm.  L.  May  in  1834,  but  was  unsuccess- 
ful. He  was  said  to  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  great  Irish  orator  Curran. 
He  died  in  1635. 

+  Receipts  during  183 1-2,  ordinary  revenue         ....  $88,218 

From  sales  of  Vandalia  lots         ------  2,316 

From  sales  of  saline  lands       -         -         -         -         -         -         -  5>312 

From  sales  by  sheriffs 6,783 

From  sales  of  seminary  lands 4°° 

$103,024 
Ordinary  expenditures $77>979 


382  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Before  the  expiration  of  Gov.  Reynolds'  term,  he  decided  to 
become  a  candidate  for  congress.  He  had  already  filled  the 
highest  offices  in  both  the  executive  and  judicial  departments 
of  the  State  government,  and  now  again  became  possessed  by 
an  ambition  to  sit  in  the  national  councils  at  Washington.  His 
principal  opponent  was  Col.  Adam  Wilson  Snyder,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  an  able  and  popular  lawyer,  and  who 
had  brought  home  with  him  from  the  war  the  scars  of  battle. 
He  was  a  fine  speaker,  of  an  ardent  temperament,  and  ambitious. 
Col.  Edward  Humphries  was  also  a  candidate;  but  the  superior 
tactics  of  the  governor  secured  him  the  victory.  He  was  also 
elected  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Charles  Slade,  who  had 
recently  died  of  cholera. 

At  the  next  general  election,  the  ex-governor  being  too 
busily  engaged  in  congress  to  make  a  personal  canvass,  Snyder 
again  became  a  candidate,  and  secured  the  prize. 

Reynolds  and  Snyder  both  resided  in  Belleville,  both  were 
democrats,  and  rivals  for  popular  favor.  Being  generally  aspir- 
ants for  the  same  place,  they  were  very  much  in  each  other's 
way;  an  antagonism  which  continued  for  many  years.* 

The  complete  statement  for  1833-4  is  as  follows: 

Receipts  from  ordinary  revenue $76,864 

From  sales  of  Vandalia  lots,  canal,  and  seminary  lands         -         -        5,708 

From  sale  of  salme  lands 14  833 

School  fund  received ---32  088 

State-bank  paper  funded 3  700 

From  James  Hall cyj 

From  debts  due  state  bank 6,895 

Redemption  money  gyg 

$141,627 
Cash  on  hand  Nov.  30,  1832  5,447 

$147,074 
Contra 

Paid  for  ordinary  expenses  general  assembly,  legislature, 

and  executive  "    -         $50,748 

Special  appropriations,  including  $6161  for  the 

penitentiary 24,914 

Miscellaneous         - 32,728 

Funded  stock,  redeemed  ....  16,362 

Interest  on  $100,000,  2  years         -  15,090 

State-bank  paper  burned  -  5898 

Sundry  items 1037     $146,777 

Balance  in  treasury  $297 

*  Snyder  being  applied  to  to  obtain  some  testimony  with  a  view  to  its  perpetua- 


JOHN   REYNOLDS.  383 

But  Col.  Snyder  was  forced  in  turn  to  give  way  to  Reynolds, 
who  was  elected  to  the  26th  and  also  the  27th  congress. 

In  1839,  tne  ex-governor  was  appointed  the  financial  agent 
of  the  State  to  effect  a  loan  in  England  under  the  internal- 
improvement  system. 

He  closed  his  congressional  career  in  1843,  and  in  1846  was 
again  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  reelected  in  1852,  when  he 
was  made  speaker  of  the  house. 

Perhaps  no  man  better  understood  the  people  of  Illinois 
from  18 1 8  to  1848  than  did  Gov.  John  Reynolds.  He  was  a 
close  observer  of  their  needs,  wishes,  and  tastes,  and  was  accord- 
ingly able  to  adopt  a  policy  which  commanded  popular  support 
and  approval. 

To  use  his  own  expression,  there  were  but  few  offices  in 
sight  which  he  did  not  "go  for;"  and  while  not  invariably  suc- 
cessful, no  public  man  of  his  day  received  a  more  generous 
support,  or  more  acceptably  served  the  people  in  a  greater 
diversity  of  fields.  He  was  quick  to  discern  on  which  side  of 
every  vital  issue  stood  the  common  people,  to  whom  he  ap- 
pealed and  the  champion  of  whose  interests  he  always  assumed 
to  be.  In  his  relations  to  other  public  men  of  his  time  he 
seems  unconsciously  to  have  adopted  and  made  his  own  the 
suggestion  offered  by  William  Wirt  to  Gov.  Ninian  Edwards — 
that  the  triumph  of  a  politician  is  "to  convert  his  opposers 
into  instruments  for  his  own  higher  elevation." 

As  a  speaker  he  was  not  fluent  and  made  no  pretensions  to 
oratory,  yet  he  always  managed  to  interest  and  influence  large 
audiences,  because  he  had  carefully  studied  their  pecularities 
no  less  than  their  wants  and  sectional  predelictions.  Although 
a  good  Greek,  Latin,  and  French  scholar,  knowing  the  con- 
tempt of  the  early  settlers  for  "book  larnin',"  he  was  careful  to 
avoid  anything  like  a  parade  of  higher  education,  employing 
the  homely  language  of  the  common  people  in  conversation, 
and  affecting  an  ignorance  which  was  wholly  feigned. 

tion,  on  being  informed  that  Gov.  Reynolds  was  the  witness  required,  broke  out  with 
an  exclamation  that  he  never  heard  of  such  nonsense  as  to  go  to  the  expense  and 
trouble  of  perpetuating  his  testimony.  "Why,  confound  him,  he'll  never  die,"  said  he, 
"  I  have  been  waiting  a  quarter  of  a  century  for  him  to  kick  the  bucket,  and  his  hold 
on  life  is  stronger  than  it  ever  was.  I  will  not  make  a fool  of  myself  by  seek- 
ing to  perpetuate  the  testimony  of  a  man  who  will  outlive  any  record  in  existence." 


384  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL.       • 

The  governor  always  favored  the  extreme  measures  of  his 
party,  including  the  Mexican  War,  the  acquisition  of  Texas,  the 
conquest  of  Cuba,  and  with  regard  to  the  Oregon  boundary- 
line,  "54°  40'  or  fight."  While  in  congress  he  rendered  himself 
particularly  offensive  to  John  Quincy  Adams,  who,  in  his  diary, 
stigmatizes  him  as  "course,  vulgar,  ignorant,  and  knavish" — a 
description  by  which  "the  old  ranger"  would  hardly  have  recog- 
nized himself. 

The  governor  had  his  own  newspaper  in  Belleville  and  his 
own  chairman  of  public  meetings,  who  invariably  decided  in 
his  favor  according  to  previous  training;  and  no  matter  how 
strongly  the  sense  of  the  meeting  was  against  him,  as  it  some- 
times proved  to  be,  the  proceedings  were  invariably  published 
as  he  wanted  them  to  appear.  He  would  have  been  the  admi- 
ration, as  he  was  the  prototype — of  the  present  ward  commit- 
teeman, who  so  "fixes"  the  judges  of  the  primaries,  who  on  their 
part  so  manipulate  "the  returns"  as  that  the  will  of  the  com- 
mittee is  expressed,  rather  than  that  of  the  voters. 

Notwithstanding  his  emphatic  denunciation  of  the  nullifica- 
tion theories  of  Calhoun  in  1S32,  in  1858,  he  had  become 
a  pronounced  advocate  of  the  doctrine  of  "state -rights,"  and 
in  i860  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Charleston  convention 
as  a  representative  of  the  anti-Douglas  democrats.  He  never 
admired  Judge  Douglas,  and  would  not  admit  that  he  was  a 
great  man,  "except  in  small  things."  When  the  rebellion  was 
imminent,  he  not  only  wrote  to  Gov.  Smith  of  Virginia  sus- 
taining the  South,  but  also  to  Jefferson  Davis,  advising  a  resort 
to  arms  for  the  disruption  of  the  Union.*  He  lived  long 
enough,  however — until  May,  1865 — to  witness  the  downfall  of 
the  confederacy,  and  the  disappointment  of  his  expectation 
regarding  the  results  of  rebellion. 

In  the  later  years  of  his  life  he  devoted  himself  to  the  writing 
of  a  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois" — a  work  of  rare  merit  and 
interest.  Although  without  order  or  arrangement,  and  ram- 
bling in  style,  it  is  replete  with  quaint  observations,  and  most 
valuable  information  relating  to  the  early  settlement  and  history 
of  the  State.  In  his  criticisms  upon  the  character  and  actions 
of  public  men,  contemporary  with  himself,  with  many  of  whom 

*  Recollections  of  Joseph  Gillespie,  p.  21,  "Fergus'  Historical  Series,"  No.  13. 


GROWTH   OF   THE    STATE.  385 

he  had  come  in  conflict,  he  evinces  an  appreciation  of  the  worth 
of  his  opponents  as  keen  as  his  treatment  of  the  weaknesses 
of  his  friends  is  candid.  His  next  literary  effort  was  "John 
Kelley,"  and  later,  he  wrote  "A  Glance  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
in  New  York,"  and  "My  Own  Times," — all  exceedingly  valuable 
contributions  to  the  literature  of  the  State. 

Gov.  Reynolds  possessed  a  fine  physique,  having  been  in  his 
youth  an  accomplished  athlete.  He  had  a  long  face,  a  high 
forehead,  and  large  eyes,  singularly  expressive.  He  was  soci- 
able, yet  temperate,  fond  of  gossip  though  kindly.  If  in  the 
attainment  of  his  political  ambition  he  was  selfish  and  grasping, 
enforcing  despotic  obedience  among  his  followers,  he  did  not 
materially  depart  from  the  example  of  other  successful  politi- 
cians of  his  day  and  age. 

Upon  the  resignation  of  the  governor  in  November,  1834, 
on  account  of  his  election  to  congress,  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  who 
had  been  elected  president  of  the  senate  in  place  of  Lieut.-Gov. 
Casey,  also  elected  to  congress,  succeeded  to  the  executive 
chair — a  position  he  held  only  fifteen  days. 

The  growth  of  the  State  from  1820  to  1835  was  unexampled, 
the  population  having  increased  from  55,162  to  269,974.  Of 
this  extraordinary  accession,  102,283  were  added  during  the 
first  decade  and  112,529  during  the  five  years  between  1830 
and  1835.  The  nineteen  counties  of  1820  had  been  trebled, 
there  being  fifty-seven  in  1835.  During  the  earlier  years  of 
this  period — from  1821  to  1823 — the  influx  of  settlers  was 
toward  the  "Sangamo  Country,"  resulting  in  the  organization  of 
the  counties  of  Montgomery,  Greene,  and  Sangamon  in  182 1, 
and  Morgan  in  1823.  In  the  latter  year,  however,  the  fame  of 
the  district  known  as  the  "military  tract"  became  noised  abroad, 
and  there  was  a  rush  of  immigrants  in  that  direction.  The  lands 
constituting  the  section  to  which  this  title  was  applied  were 
given  as  a  bounty  to  the  soldiers  of  the  War  of  18 12,  and 
extended  on  the  fourth  principal  meridian  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Illinois  160  miles  north,  the  tract  comprising  the  peninsula 
between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers.  Within  its  limits, 
in  1824-5,  were  created  the  counties  of  Adams,  Calhoun,  Han- 
cock, Schuyler,  Knox,  Warren,  Peoria,  Mercer,  Henry,  and 
Putnam;  Pike  and  Fulton  counties,  lying  in  the  same  tract, 
25 


3S6  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

had  been  already  organized,  the  former  in  1821  and  the  latter 
in  1823,  while  McDonough  followed  in  1826,  On  the  east  side 
of  the  Illinois  River,  the  incoming  tide  of  population  resulted 
in  the  organization  of  Tazewell  County  in  1827,  Macon  in  1829, 
and  McLean  in  1830.  Afterward,  as  the  project  of  building  a 
canal  which  should  connect  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  and 
Lake  Michigan  began  to  assume  tangible  shape,  settlers  ven- 
tured still  farther  north,  and  in  1831  were  formed  the  coun- 
ties of  LaSalle,  Rock  Island,  and  Cook.  Their  growth  was 
not  a  little  stimulated  by  the  favorable  reports  of  the  coun- 
try carried  to  the  south  and  east  by  soldiers  returning  from 
the  Black-Hawk  War.  The  pay  of  the  volunteers  in  that 
struggle,  amounting  to  about  half  a  million  of  dollars,  was 
expended  in  paying  for  land  already  acquired  and  for  entering 
new  claims — one  very  material  benefit,  at  least,  derived  from 
that  war. 

A  majority  of  the  new  settlers  came  from  Kentucky,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Tennessee;  but  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and 
even  New  England  contributed  their  quota,  many  of  the 
eastern  immigrants  settling  in  the  towns,  to  whose  growth  they 
imparted  a  decided  impetus. 

But  the  fame  of  the  agricultural  advantages  offered  by  Illi- 
nois had  spread  beyond  the  seas,  and  attracted  the  attention  of 
dwellers  in  foreign  lands.  Among  the  most  eminent  of  these 
were  Morris  Birkbeck  and  George  Flower,  both  of  England. 
The  latter  had  made  a  tour  of  the  West  in  18 16;  the  former 
was  introduced  to  and  visited  by  Edward  Coles  on  the  occasion 
of  that  gentleman's  visit  to  London  in  181 5.  The  impression 
made  upon  Mr.  Birkbeck  by  the  prospective  governor  was  such 
that  he  decided  to  emigrate  to  the  United  States.  In  May, 
1817,  with  his  family  he  landed  at  Richmond,  Va.,  where  he 
was  joined  by  Mr.  Flower.  Together  the  party  of  ten  traveled 
by  stage  to  Pittsburg,  from  which  point  they  proceeded  on 
horseback,  reaching  Big  Prairie  in  Edwards  County,  Aug.  2, 
1 8 17.  Each  of  the  gentlemen  entered  1500  acres  of  land,  and 
began  life  anew  in  a  strange  country.  As  a  result  of  the  glow- 
ing accounts  sent  home  by  Mr.  Birkbeck,  in  the  form  of  letters 
published  in  England,  a  colony  of  artisans,  laborers,  and  farm- 
ers soon  set  sail  with  a  view  to  settling  in  the  new  Arcadia. 


SOCIAL   CHANGES.  387 

Farms  were  purchased,  the  town  of  Albion  laid  out,  and  the 
foundation  started  for  one  of  the  most  prosperous  settlements 
ever  made  in  the  State.  They  brought  with  them  a  better 
knowledge  of  agriculture  and  introduced  as  well  some  stock  of 
improved  breeds,  both  of  which  proved  of  no  little  benefit  to 
the  community.  And  in  the  stormy  times  which  were  ushered 
in  by  the  slavery  conflict  of  1824,  these  English  colonists  were 
prompt  to  array  themselves  on  the  side  of  freedom.* 

Another  English  colony,  from  Lancashire,  settled  in  Monroe 
County  in  1818;  and  soon  after  numerous  families  from  each 
division  of  the  United  Kingdom  found  homes  in  Greene  and 
Morean  counties  and  in  other  sections  of  the  State.  About 
this  same  period  was  begun  the  first  German  settlement  at 
a  point  in  St.  Clair  County,  soon  known  as  "Dutch  Hollow," 
which  formed  a  rallying  point  or  centre,  for  the  large  number 
of  thrifty  emigrants  from  "the  Fatherland,"  who  soon  began  to 
pour  into  that  and  adjoining  counties. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  before  the  close  of  1834,  the  centre 
of  population,  which  for  nearly  a  century  had  remained  in  the 
vicinity  of  Kaskaskia,  had  been  removed  to  a  point  considerably 
north  of  Vandalia. 

With  the  advent  of  these  permanent  settlers,  the  careless 
squatter,  always  shiftless  and  sometimes  dissolute,  began  to 
disappear.  His  aim  seems  to  have  been  to  keep  always  a  trifle 
in  advance  of  the  tide  of  civilization,  which  carried  him  forward 
as  does  the  sea  the  driftwood  that  floats  upon  its  waves.  He 
chafed  under  the  restraints  of  organized  society,  and  preferred 
the  wildwoods,  with  the  companionship  of  his  dog  and  gun,  to 
the  more  staid  ways  of  a  settlement.  Accordingly,  when 
"neighbors"  came  so  near  that  he  could  hear  the  crack  of  their 

o 

rifles,  he  hastily  accepted  the  first  offer  made  him  for  his  little 
patch  of  corn  and  beans,  and  followed  the  receding  red  man 
toward  the  setting  sun. 

But  the  fascinations  of  the  chase  were  felt  by  his  successors 

*  Most  interesting  is  George  Flower's  local  "  History  of  the  English  Settlement 
in  Edwards  County,"  with  notes  by  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne  (No.  1  of  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society  Collections).  It  is  filled  with  valuable  information  and  abounds 
in  romantic  incidents  described  in  a  graphic  and  fascinating  style.  The  story  of  the 
rivalry  of  Morris  Birkbeck  and  the  author  for  the  hand  of  one  of  the  ladies  of  their 
pioneer  party,  and  their  subsequent  estrangement,  is  of  enthralling  nterest. 


388  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

as  well.  Grouse,  wild  turkeys,  deer,  and  even  bears  were  abun- 
dant, not  only  in  the  woods  but  even  on  the  farms;  and  for 
many  years  it  was  no  rare  luck  for  a  pioneer  to  bring  down  an 
elk  or  buffalo.  Salted  bear  meat  formed  no  insignificant  item 
of  the  winter's  supplies,  and  sometimes  a  hunting  party  would 
return  with  the  carcasses  of  as  many  as  thirty  or  forty  of  these 
carnivorous  pests.  Of  venison,  there  was  no  lack — a  single 
sportsman  sometimes  shooting  half  a  dozen  deer  in  a  day, 
besides  bringing  in  a  bag  well  filled  with  smaller  game.  Such 
a  redundancy  of  sport  at  first  resulted  in  a  rivalry  between  the 
chase  and  the  farm.  But  as  years  went  by,  and  game  became 
less  plentiful,  and  the  fields  and  orchards  larger  and  better 
improved,  settlers  began  to  see  that  their  best  interests  lay  in 
the  cultivation  of  their  farms,  and  hunting  became  a  pastime 
rather  than  a  vocation. 

Immigrants  from  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  until  better  facili- 
ties were  offered  by  canals  and  railroads,  traveled  on  horseback, 
by  wagons  and  stage  to  Pittsburg,  thence  usually  in  flat-boats 
down  the  Ohio  River  to  Shawneetown,  at  which  point  land- 
-carriage  was  resumed,  although  the  procuring  of  transportation 
thence  was  attended  with  great  difficulties.  The  stage  fare 
was  six  cents  a  mile.  Occasionally  the  entire  journey  was 
made  by  land,  the  better  class  of  settlers  traveling  in  their 
-own  carriages  or  covered  wagons,  drawn  by  two  or  four  horses. 

A  great  drawback  to  emigration  and  commerce  in  these 
•early  times  was  the  want  of  good  roads.  A  great  deal  of 
costly  work,  under  the  patronage  of  congress,  had  been  done 
up  to  1835  upon  the  National  Road,  extending  in  Illinois  from 
opposite  Terre  Haute  to  Vandalia;  but  aside  from  this,  while 
a  number  of  state  roads  were  established  connecting  the  prin- 
cipal towns — which  were  used  for  mail  and  stage-routes — that 
from  Springfield  to  Chicago  in  1826,  and  from  the  latter  place 
to  Decatur  and  Shelbyville  in  1832 — but  little  labor  or  money 
was  expended  upon  them,  none  of  the  smaller  and  only  a  few 
of  the  larger  streams  being  bridged. 

Houses  on  the  roads  being  ten  to  twenty  miles  apart,  way- 
farers would  sometimes  lose  their  way,  or  being  caught  in  a 
storm,  would  have  to  camp  out  until  they  could  ford  swollen 
streams.* 

*  On  one  occasion,  Judges  Wilson  and  Lockwood,  and  Henry  Eddy,  in  going  on 


FIRST   STEAMBOATS.  389 

The  first  steamboat  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  above  Cairo, 
was  the  General  Pike,  which  reached  St.  Louis  Aug.  2,  18 17; 
and  the  second,  the  Constitution,  two  months  thereafter.  But 
at  first  the  service  was  irregular,  and  the  accommodations  found 
but  little  favor  with  the  traveling  public.  The  time  made  was 
from  six  to  eight  miles  an  hour  up  stream,  and  ten  to  twelve 
down.  But  improvements  in  machinery  and  in  the  construction 
of  boats  soon  began  to  work  a  great  revolution  in  this  mode 
of  transportation,  which  by  1825  and  1830,  had  come  to  be 
generally  adopted  when  available.  The  first  steamboat  began 
to  ply  upon  the  Illinois  River  in  1826.  The  opening  of  the  Ohio 
Canal  from  Cleveland  to  Portsmouth,  and  the  railroad  and 
canal  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg,  in  connection  with  the 
improved  navigation  of  western  rivers  by  steamboats,  offered 
such  increased  facilities  to  travel  as  greatly  to  stimulate  immi- 
gration and  trade. 

The  arrival  of  a  family  at  their  new  home  was  often  provo- 
cative of  great  disappointment.  To  the  masculine  head,  with 
heart  of  oak  and  muscles  of  steel,  already  rejoicing  in  the  pros- 
pect of  drawing  from  the  unbroken  soil  its  treasures  of  golden 
grain,  the  situation  was  not  so  discouraging.  But  upon  the 
wife,  who  had  been,  perhaps,  educated  and  brought  up  in 
luxury,  the  entering  upon  a  new  life,  without  any  of  its  com- 
forts, deprived  of  all  its  higher  enjoyments,  and  the  society  of 
neighbors  and  friends,  entailed  a  sacrifice  which  taxed  her 
courage  and  fortitude  to  the  utmost.* 

horseback  from  Carmi  to  Vandalia — a  distance  of  sixty  miles — were  overtaken  by 
a  storm  of  wind,  sleet,  and  snow,  and  after  traveling  all  day,  became  so  fatigued 
that  they  were  unable  to  proceed  farther.  Tying  their  horses,  they  spread  a  blan- 
ket on  the  ground  near  a  fallen  tree,  and  squatted  down  close  together,  Lockwood  in 
the  middle,  and  thus  spent  the  dismal  night.  Proceeding  in  the  morning,  half-frozen, 
they  reached  the  Kaskaskia  River  opposite  Vandalia  about  noon,  and  found  its  banks 
full  to  overflowing.  There  was  no  alternative,  and  in  they  plunged  and  swam  over, 
riding  into  town  about  "used  up".  Lockwood,  who  had  long  been  in  delicate  health, 
as  a  consequence  of  the  exposures  of  the  trip  resigned  himself  to  a  certain  and  speedy 
demise,  but,  strange  to  relate,  from  that  very  time  he  enjoyed  better  health  than  he 
had  for  many  years  previously. — Flower's  "English  Settlement,"  p.  28. 

*  An  interesting  anecdote  is  told  of  the  advent  from  New  York  of  Henry,  father 
of  United-States  Senator  Charles  Benjamin  Farwell,  with  his  family,  at  his  farm  in 
Ogle  County.  The  party  arrived  at  the  dilapidated  log-house  surrounded  by  a  crazy- 
worm  fence  and  presenting  a  general  air  of  desolation  in  the  evening.  The  outlook 
was  so  forbidding  and  the  prospect  of  ever  making  his  family  comfortable  was  so  slim, 


390  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

From  what  has  been  said  regarding  the  variety  of  sources 
from  which  came  these  early  settlers,  it  is  easy  to  comprehend 
the  inharmonious  character  which  for  a  time  was  a  distinguish- 
ing mark  of  the  people  of  the  State.  They  were  of  all  pro- 
fessions, trades,  and  callings;  and  came  from  localities  where 
they  had  acquired  habits  of  life  and  business  methods  varying 
almost  as  widely  as  did  their  respective  idiosyncrasies  of  men- 
tal and  moral  constitution.  At  first,  the  result  of  thus  bringing 
together  elements  so  divergent  was  to  induce  a  clash.  The  old 
settlers  looked  with  distrust  upon  the  new-comers,  at  many  of 
whose  methods  they  were  disposed  to  sneer  as  "new-fangled 
inventions,"  which  they  were  slow  to  recognize  as  improvements 
upon  their  own  more  primitive  ways.  In  consequence,  verbal 
collisions  were  not  infrequent,  the  thoughts  and  ideas  of  one 
side  being  vehemently  contested  by  the  other.  Especially  were 
such  wordy  battles  common  between  settlers  from  the  South 
and  immigrants  from  New  England  and  New  York,  to  both  of 
whom  was  applied  the  then  opprobrious  epithet  of  "Yankees." 

Looking  back  at  the  situation  from  the  more  clearly  illu- 
mined standpoint  of  the  present,  the  student  of  history  is  able 
to  discern  not  only  the  operative  causes  then  at  work,  but 
also  the  definite  results  which  have  become  manifest  in  later 
years.  It  was  the  soil  of  the  northwest,  of  which  Illinois  formed 
an  integral  part,  that  witnessed,  virtually  for  the  first  time,  the 
union  of  the  descendants  of  those  first  colonists,  so  diverse  in 
aims  and  religious  faith,  who  landed  respectively  at  Jamestown 
and  Plymouth  Rock,  two  hundred  years  before.  In  other  words, 
the  progeny  of  the  Roundhead  and  the  Cavalier  here  met  upon 
common  ground.  In  habits  of  thought,  as  in  religion,  they 
were  still  apart.  The  Eastern  immigrants — most  of  whom 
were  merchants  or  mechanics — gravitated  toward  the  towns,  a 
few    only    at    first    entering    claims    for    farm-lands.      In   most 

that  the  father  decided  in  his  own  mind  to  go  back  and  not  subject  his  wife  and 
children  to  the  apparently  hopeless  task  of  ever  attaining  a  fair  proportion  of  the  en- 
joyments of  life  in  such  a  place.  After  supper  he  advised  his  family  of  the  conclu- 
sion he  had  reached,  but  said  he  would  leave  it  to  them  to  decide.  Some  of  the 
boys  discouraged  at  the  outlook,  voted  with  the  father,  others  on  the  other  side,  so 
that  the  wife  had  the  casting-vote.  She  remarked,  "Well,  it's  left  to  me,  is  it?" 
They  all  replied,  "Yes,  you  must  decide."  "Well,"  she  said,  "we  shall  stay  right 
here  and  work  it  out;  I  have  no  fears  of  the  result." 


FIRST   NEWSPAPERS.  39 1 

essential  points,  the  "Yankee"  was  the  reverse  of  his  neighbor 
from  the  South — the  former  was  temperate,  industrious,  shrewd, 
close-fisted,  ingenious,  and  self-contained;  the  latter  was  inclined 
to  be  "easy-going,"  was  hospitable,  dignified,  frank,  sociable, 
sensitive,  and  jealous  of  his  rights.  These  differences  in  char- 
acteristics tended  to  strengthen  prejudice  and  induce  friction — 
a  tendency  which  the  sharp  trading  of  the  "Yankee  clock- 
peddler"  in  no  wise  diminished.  Ebullitions  of  temper  on 
either  side  were  common  and  hard  words  were  freely  inter- 
changed. The  following  story,  illustrative  of  this  feeling  is 
told  by  Judge  Gillespie.  An  old  "hardshell"  Baptist  preacher, 
Father  Biggs  by  name,  holding  forth  on  one  occasion  on  the 
richness  and  universality  of  God's  grace-  said,  "It  tuk  in  the 
isles  of  the  sea,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  yeth.  It 
embraces  the  Esquimaux,  and  the  Hotentots,  and  some,  my 
dear  brethering,  go  so  far  as  to  suppose  that  it  takes  in  the  poor 
benighted  Yankees,  but  I  don  t  go  that  fur."  The  same  divine 
accounted  for  the  word  "sprinkle"  being  in  the  Bible  by  con- 
tending "that  it  was  an  infernal  Yankee  trick."  One  of  the 
objections  seriously  urged  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State 
against  the  construction  of  the  canal  was,  that  it  would  be  the 
means  of  flooding  the  State  with  Yankees. 

Together  with  merchants,  lawyers,  physicians,  came  also  the 
editor,  the  school-teacher,  the  singing-master,  and  the  mission- 
ary, not  ignoring  the  Methodist  circuit  rider,  each  of  whom 
wielded  a  distinctive  but  no  less  potent  influence  in  shaping 
the  progress  of  society. 

The  first  newspaper  printed  in  the  State  was  published  at 
Kaskaskia,  and  called  the  Illinois  Herald,  Matthew  Duncan 
being  its  proprietor.  Its  name  was  changed  to  the  Illinois 
Intelligencer  in  1817,  at  which  time  it  was  owned  by  Black- 
well  and  Berry,  state  printers,  who,  in  1820,  removed  their 
establishment  to  Vandalia. 

Other  early  newspapers  printed  in  the  State,  in  their  order, 
were  the  Illinois  Emigrant,  published  by  Henry  Eddy  and 
Singleton  H.  Kimmel,  at  Shawneetown  in  18 18,  the  name  of 
which  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Illinois  Gazette  in  1824;  the 
Edwardsville  Spectator,  by  Hooper  Warren  in  18 19;  the  Star 
of  the  West,  at  the  same  place  in   1822,  changed  to  the  Illinois 


392  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Republican  in  1823;  the  Republican  Advocate  at  Kaskaskia  in 
1823,  by  R.  K.  Fleming;  the  Illinois  Journal  at  Galena,  by- 
James  Jones,  in  1826;  the  Sangamo  Spectator  at  Springfield, 
the  same  year  by  Hooper  Warren;  the  Illinois  Corrector  at 
Edvvardsville,  in  1828;  the  Galena  Advertiser,  by  Newell,  Philleo 
&  Co.,  in  1829;  the  Alton  Spectator,  in  1830,  by  Edward  Breath; 
the  Telegraph,  at  the  same  place,  by  Parks  &  Treadvvay,  after- 
ward controlled  by  John  Bailhache — and  a  still  leading  paper 
in  Madison  County;  the  Sangamo  Journal,  now  the  State 
Journal,  in  183 1,  by  Simeon  Francis,  which  he  conducted  until 
1855,  the  publication  of  which  has  been  uninterruptedly  con- 
tinued until  the  present  time;  and  the  Chicago  Dcnocrat,  by 
John  Calhoun,  at  Chicago  in  1833. 

Other  papers,  at  the  new  county-seats,  soon  followed.  While 
these  newspapers,  all  of  them  published  weekly,  were  in  many 
instances  ably  conducted — notably  the  Illinoisan  at  Jackson- 
ville, whose  editorials  on  leading  subjects  would  attract  atten- 
tion in  the  most  influential  journals  of  the  present  day — it 
must  be  admitted  that  great  improvements  have  taken  place 
in  their  "make-up"  and  management.  The  most  of  them  con- 
taining principally  extracts  from  Eastern  papers,  very  little  local 
news,  and  single,  heavy  editorial  "  leaders,"  were  exceedingly 
dry  reading. 

Of  the  early  writers  and  authors  of  Illinois  Judge  James 
Hall  has  already  been  mentioned.  In  addition  to  his  labors 
as  a  missionary,  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck  also  wielded  the  pen  with 
great  ability  and  effect.  He  was  the  author  of  "A  Guide 
for  Emigrants,"  "A  Gazetteer  of  Illinois,"  and,  in  connection 
with  Rev.  James  H.  Perkins,  the  "Annals  of  the  West,"  in  all 
of  which  were  clearly  set  forth  important  facts,  whose  publica- 
tion tended  to  promote  the  settlement  and  improvement  of  the 
State* 

Perhaps  the  most  graceful  and  scholarly  writer  of  this  period 
in  the  Prairie  State  was  Prof.  John  Russell,  of  Bluffdale  in 
Greene  County,  a  native  of  Vermont.  His  contributions  to 
the  newspapers  and  periodicals  of  the  day  were  frequent  and 
called  forth  encomiums  from  the  Eastern  press  and  even  at- 
tracted attention  in  Europe. 

*  Mr.    Peck  was  also  the  author  of  "Life  of   Rev.  John  Turner,"  the  "Indian 
Captive, "  and  the  "  Life  of  Rev.  John  Clark. " 


FIRST   COLLEGES.  393 

Another  element  which  at  this  time  entered  largely  into  the 
moulding  and  formative  processes  of  society,  and  the  elevation 
of  the  people  was  the  establishment  of  higher  schools,  or 
seminaries  and  colleges.  The  first  of  these  was  the  theological 
seminary  and  high-school  at  Rock  Springs,  in  1827,  in  the 
founding  of  which  the  indefatigable  Peck  was  the  moving  spirit. 
In  183 1,  the  institution  was  transferred  to  Upper  Alton  and 
reorganized  into  what  has  since  been  known  as  Shurtleff 
College. 

The  Lebanon  Seminary,  under  care  of  the  conference  of  the 
Methodist-Episcopal  Church,  was  established  in  1828,  and  in 
1830,  it  was  given  the  name  of  McKendree  College,  which  it 
still  bears. 

A  seminary  of  learning  under  the  auspices  of  Rev.  John 
Ellis,  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  was  established  at  Jacksonville 
in  1829,  and  subsequently,  through  the  efforts  of  an  association 
of  theological  students  of  Yale  College,  was  reSrganized  into 
Illinois  College  in  1832. 

The  legislature  for  many  years  refused  to  pass  acts  of  incor- 
poration for  colleges  with  anything  like  liberal  provisions, 
insisting  upon  the  insertion  of  restrictive  clauses  in  regard  to 
the  teaching  of  theology;  but  in  1835  a  combination  of  the 
friends  of  the  institutions  above  named  succeeded  in  securing 
the  passage  of  a  satisfactory  "omnibus  bill,"  providing  for  their 
incorporation. 

No  estimate  of  the  forces  which  guide  and  shape  the  prog- 
ress of  society  in  a  State,  would  be  complete  which  failed  to 
include  the  influence  of  religion. 

In  territorial  days  there  were  but  few  meeting-houses,  and 
preaching  services  were  at  long  intervals.  Sunday  was  not 
observed  with  much  strictness.  The  sermon,  at  some  neigh- 
bor's house  or  adjacent  grove,  being  over,  the  afternoon  was 
often  devoted  to  games  and  races,  the  preacher  frequently  act- 
ing as  judge  of  the  respective  events.  One  of  these  pioneer 
clergy  is  said  to  have  given  notice  on  one  occasion,  that  he 
would  preach  at  the  same  place  the  following  Sunday,  unless 
it  should  happen  to  be  a  good  day  for  hunting  bees. 

The  style  of  preaching  was  of  the  long,  loud,  declamatory 
sort,  in  which  the  speaker  gradually  worked  himself  up  into  a 


394  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATIS'I  ICAL. 

kind  of  frenzy,  when  he  would  fairly  foam  at  the  mouth,  and 
cease  only  when  exhausted  nature  could  hold  out  no  longer. 
The  singing  was  after  the  same  pattern,  both  ear  and  throat 
splitting.  He  that  could  wake  the  echoes  from  the  greatest 
distance  was  the  best  singer. 

When  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  the  first  protestant  "missionary,"  came 
west  in  1817,  the  prevailing  denominations  were  Baptists  and 
Methodists.  The  Baptists,  while  entertaining  Calvinistic  views 
on  many  cardinal  points,  listened  to  the  teachings  of  the  East- 
ern propagandist  on  the  subject  of  temperance,  foreign  and 
domestic  missions,  Sunday-schools,  an  educated  ministry,  and 
Bible  societies,  with  great  disfavor,  and  which  they  regarded 
as  innovations  upon  their  ancient  faith  and  customs.  The 
result  was  a  schism,  and  the  division  of  that  Church  into 
"regular"  and  Missionary  Baptists.  The  former  continued  to 
confine  their  ministrations  to  the  country,  as  they  do  at  the 
present  time,  while  the  latter  generally  erected  their  houses  of 
worship  in  the  towns. 

The  Methodists  as  a  body,  were  the  pioneers  in  all  effective 
religious  movements.  And  if  the  great  John  Wesley  had  lived 
a  hundred  years  later,  the  added  experience  thus  acquired 
would  not  have  enabled  him  to  devise  a  system  of  religion 
better  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  people  in  the  Western 
States  at  this  period.  Wherever  a  new  log-cabin  was  erected, 
with  the  first  smoke  rising  from  its  mud-plastered  chimney  of 
sticks,  and  floating  away  among  the  tree  tops,  was  to  be  seen 
the  never-failing  circuit-rider,  dressed  in  a  single-breasted  cloth 
coat,  and  white  hat,  mounted  on  his  stout  horse,  his  wardrobe 
and  library  carried  in  his  saddle-bags.  Courageous,  industri- 
ous, and  enthusiastic  in  his  calling,  he  was  earnest,  thorough 
going,  and  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  give  a  free  gospel  to  the 
poor.  He  was  a  cross  between  the  old  "regular"  Baptists,  and 
the  missionary  from  New  England;  while  conforming  to  the 
popular  style  of  preaching  and  hearty  western  manners,  he  was 
at  the  same  time  progressive,  and  quick  to  recognize  the  advan- 
tages of  a  higher  education. 

These  men  believed  in  all  sincerity  what  they  preached,  and 
preached  what  they  believed  with  inspiring  fervor.  Their  mode 
of  life,  affording  as  it  did  continual  opportunities  for  reflection 


CAMP   MEETINGS.  .  395 

and  self-communion,  enabled  them  the  better  to  cultivate  the 
gift  of  oratory,  which  not  a  few  of  them  possessed  in  a  high 
degree.  The  class- meeting  unloosened  the  tongues  of  both 
men  and  women  to  speak  of  their  progress  in  the  divine  life, 
and  of  their  encouragements  and  hindrances  by  the  way.  It 
was  to  this  agency,  in  connection  with  its  system  of  itineracy 
that  this  denomination  owed  its  extraordinary  growth  and 
leading  position.* 

This  was  the  hey-day  of  camp-meetings.  They  originated 
with  the  Presbyterians  in  Kentucky  in  1800,  but  their  advan- 
tages were  quickly  perceived  by  the  Methodists  who  made  them 
an  "institution'"'  peculiarly  their  own.  The  scenes  at  these  meet- 
ings, where  thousands  of  people  frequently  congregated,  were  as 
exciting  as  they  were  grotesque.    At  times,  under  the  preaching 

*  One  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  early  itinerants  was  Rev.  Peter  Cartwright 
who  came  to  the  State  from  Kentucky  in  1823,  and  settled  in  Sangamon  County, 
where  he  resided  until  hi.-,  death.  For  forty  years  he  was  in  the  front  of  the  work 
of  church  extension.  His  district  at  first  extended  from  Kaskaskia  to  Galena,  and 
was  so  large  that  he  was  never  able  to  go  over  it  in  any  one  year.  He  was  of  power- 
ful frame,  and  possessed  a  strong  intellect,  not  very  highly  cultivated,  however,  in  the 
learning  of  the  schools.  He  was  a  ready  speaker,  logical,  witty,  fearless — even  bel- 
ligerent. He  was  afraid,  indeed,  of  neither  man  nor  the  devil,  and  was  as  ready 
with  his  strong  right  arm  to  subdue  a  refractory  member  of  his  flock,  or  disturber  of 
his  congregation,  as  he  was  with  his  tongue  to  contend  with  and  silence  a  dissenter 
from  his  branch  of  the  church. 

He  was  »  consistent  defender  of  the  faith  on  all  occasions;  whether  in  requesting 
Gov  Edwards  to  ask  a  blessing  at  a  dinner-party  upon  seeing  that  he  was  going  to 
dispense  with  that  ceremony;  or  in  forcibly  evicting  the  termagant  wife  of  a  brother 
preacher  from  her  own  door,  outside  of  which  she  was  kept  until  she  begged  to  be 
let  in,  because  -he  persisted  in  objecting  to  family  worship. 

Upon  one  occasion  in  Nashville,  as  he  was  about  commencing  his  sermon,  a  tall, 
graceful  gentleman  came  in,  who,  it  was  whispered  to  him  by  a  brother  in  the  pulpit, 
was  the  celebrated  Andrew  Jackson.  Feeling  indignant  at  the  toadyism  which 
prompted  the  interruption  he  at  once  spoke  up  "Who  is  Gen.  Jackson?  If  he  don't 
get  his  soul  converted,  God  will  damn  him  as  quick  as  he  would  a  Guinea  nigger!" 

He  was  an  object  of  great  interest  at  the  general  conferences  in  New  York,  where 
on  one  occasion  he  created  no  little  astonishment  at  the  hotel  at  which  he  was  stop- 
ping, by  asking  the  clerk  for  an  ax,  with  which  he  said,  he  proposed  to  "blaze  his 
way"  up  six  pair  of  stairs,  so  that  he  could  find  his  way  out. 

He  also  ventured  into  the  field  of  politics,  having  been  twice  elected  to  the  legis- 
lature (1828-1832).  Here,  however,  he  was  out  of  his  element,  and  cut  but  a  poor 
figure.  He  was  also  induced  to  become  the  democratic  candidate  for  congress 
against  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1846,  and  failed  of  election  by  a  large  majority. 

In  1S56,  he  published  his  autobiography,  containing  a  very  graphic  account  of  his 
adventures  and  experiences. 


39^  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

of  some  "powerful"  revivalist,  hundreds  would  be  "struck  down 
under  a  conviction  of  sin,"  and  the  entire  camp  become  a  scene 
of  mingled  groaning,  praying,  and  shouting.  Some  would  be 
seized  with  a  paroxysm  of  spasmodic  jerkings,  others  would 
spring  up  and  dance  until  they  were  exhausted — all  of  which 
bodily  exercises  were  claimed  to  be  the  supernatural  workings 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then  again  the  commotion  would  take  the 
direction  of  song,  when  the  volume  of  sound  swelling  upon  the 
unconfined  breeze,  might  be  heard  for  miles  around.  The 
camp-meeting  still  exists,  but  its  weird  and  extragavant  scenes 
have  become  but  a  memory  of  the  past. 

Before  1825,  several  new  Catholic  parishes,  in  addition  to 
those  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  had  been  established,  while 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  and  Episcopalians  had  also  found 
a  foothold  in  several  counties.  By  1830,  influential  Presbyterian 
churches  had  been  organized  in  the  counties  of  St.  Clair,  Madi- 
son, Bond,  and  Fayette. 

With  the  tide  of  immigration  which  set  in  after  1832,  came 
in  increasing  numbers  the  missionaries  from  New  England. 
They  were  generally  fresh  from  college,  and  had  a  much  larger 
acquaintance  with  books,  than  with  men  and  things.  Their 
methods  were  not  popular  with  Western  people,  who  approved 
neither  their  precise  manners,  their  correct  mode  of  speaking, 
their  wearing  fine  clothes,  their  extreme  anti-slavery  senti- 
ments, nor,  least  of  all,  their  persistent  and  ever-recurring  Sun- 
day collections.  The  people  were  accustomed  to  an  animated, 
even  boisterous  style  of  preaching,  and  craved  spiritual  excite- 
ment. They  believed  in  a  demonstrative  religion,  induced  by 
the  stirring  of  the  feelings  to  their  very  depths;  and  were  but 
little  interested  in,  or  affected  by,  a  sermon  read  from  manu- 
script, in  a  low  tone  of  voice.  Still  these  devoted  missionaries 
persevered,  under  great  difficulties,  and  even  hardships  at  times, 
in  the  establishment  of  churches — chiefly  Presbyterian  —  in 
organizing  Sunday-schools  and  Bible  societies,  and  in  securing- 
funds  for  the  building  of  houses  of  worship.  Under  their  min- 
istrations, families  no  longer  sat  apart — the  males  on  one  side 
of  the  church  and  the  females  on  the  other,  but  were  grouped 
together  on  one  seat. 

The  most  striking  result  of  their  labors,  however,  was  seen  in 


SOCIAL  INFLUENCE   OF   CHURCHES.  397 

the  prominence  given  to  an  intellectual  over  an  emotional  relig- 
ion. They  sought  to  replace  mere  excitement  by  a  sober 
conviction  of  duty,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
faith  of  their  congregations  was  strengthened  through  the 
elevation  of  their  minds  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought.  While 
these  missionaries  were  generally  under  the  thorough  influence 
of  their  creeds,  they  were  self-denying  and  steadfast  in  their 
labors.  And  although  they  never  succeeded  in  making  much 
impression  upon  the  western- country  people,  the  churches 
established  by  them  were  well-founded  and  have  continued  to 
prosper  and  multiply. 

By  reason  of  the  convergence  of  so  many  diverse  forces 
and  elements,  which  burst  upon  the  young  State,  as  it  were,  in 
a  day,  wonderful  changes,  transformations,  and  amalgamations 
took  place  in  the  habits  and  lives  of  the  people. 

One  of  the  most  marked  results  following  the  establishment 
of  churches  from  Eastern  material,  was  the  impovement  in 
church  music.  The  education  of  the  missionary  himself  had 
not  been  neglected  in  this  direction,  and  through  the  efforts  of 
the  "singing-master"  whom  he  invited  and  encouraged,  a  radi- 
cal reform  in  this  respect  was  effected.  The  old  patent-note 
singing-books,  with  their  tunes  generally  in  minor  keys,  were 
exchanged  for  the  better  and  more  modern  collections  of  Low- 
ell  Mason  and  others;  and  men  began  to  see  that  for  the  pro- 
duction of  harmonic  effects  in  the  mingling  of  voices,  something 
more  was  required  than  mere  noise.  With  the  training  which 
improved  methods  produced,  more  satisfactory  results  were 
accomplished.  Indeed,  among  the  influences  at  work,  in  mould- 
ing the  character  and  forming  the  tastes  of  the  young  people 
of  that  period,  the  education  of  the  singing-school,  which  gave 
a  new  direction  to  their  attention,  and  afforded  at  once  instruc- 
tion and  enjoyment,  was  not  the  least  important. 

The  impetus  given  to  religious  movements,  as  evidenced  by 
the  spread  of  churches  and  Sunday-schools  which  kept  even 
pace  with  the  increasing  population,  undoubtedly  exerted  a 
decidedly  controlling  influence  upon  the  social  no  less  than  the 
moral  well-being  of  the  community.  The  people  were  brought 
together  more  frequently,  and  saw  much  more  of  each  other 
and  their  new  neighbors  than  they  had  theretofore.     New  ideas 


398  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

of  dress  and  of  manners  were  acquired,  emulation  was  awa- 
kened, and  industry  stimulated  to  attain  better  and  more 
desirable  ends.  The  old  shanty  gave  place  to  a  better  log- 
cabin,  the  coon-skin  cap  for  one  made  of  wool,  the  linsey 
hunting-shirt  to  a  coat  made  of  cloth,  the  short,  striped  or 
cross-barred  cotton  or  woolen  frock  to  more  stylish  gowns 
made  of  calico  or  silk,  and  the  deerskin  moccason,  to  shoes 
of  leather.  And  Sunday,  which  had  been  as  other  days,  or 
passed  in  strolling  through  the  woods  and  fields  or  in  visiting, 
began  to  be  looked  forward  to,  especially  by  the  younger  peo- 
ple, with  joyful  anticipations,  as  a  day  on  which  to  adorn  them- 
selves in  their  bright  new  clothes,  and  as  an  occasion  for  meet- 
ing their  acquaintances  in  the  neighboring  chapel  or  school- 
house. 

And  it  was  a  fact  which  none  could  fail  to  observe,  that  in 
those  communities  where  they  had  the  best  meeting-houses, 
where  services  and  Sunday-schools  were  the  most  regularly 
attended,  and  the  day-school  well  sustained,  there  was  the  best 
order,  the  most  enlightened  and  progressive  society;  while  in 
those  neighborhoods  where  religion  was  ignored,  where  the  Sab- 
bath brought  no  change,  and  ministers  were  unwelcome  guests, 
the  population  was  uncouth,  ignorant,  and  retrogressive — if  not 
vicious. 

A  better  acquaintance  resulted  in  the  formation  of  closer 
relations  between  the  old  and  new  settlers,  and  the  gradual 
attrition  of  the  sharper  points  of  difference.  Each  class  became 
more  willing  to  listen  to  and  adopt  important  and  valuable 
suggestions  as  to  modes  of  living  and  trading.  The  settler 
from  the  East  grew  to  be  more  liberal  in  his  views,  more  frank 
and  hearty  in  his  demeanor,  and  more  social  in  his  intercourse 
with  his  neighbors;  while  the  settler  from  the  South  learned 
habits  of  caution,  industry,  close  farming,  economy,  and  enter- 
prise. In  fact,  it  came  to  be  said  that  when  a  Kentuckian 
fairly  set  himself  to  the  task  of  sharp  trading  he  could  put 
even  a  Yankee  to  the  blush.-'' 

*  A  story  is  told  of  one  of  these  who  had  impressed  upon  his  own  son  the  desira- 
bility of  emulating  in  matters  of  business  the  example  of  his  neighbors  from  the 
East.  In  the  receptive  mind  of  the  youth  the  seed  thus  sown  fell  into  fertile  soil, 
and  was  well-cultivated.  One  day  his  father  sent  him  to  town  to  sell  a  calf,  and  how 
well  he  succeeded  in  the  transaction  was  thus  told  by  a  neighbor  who  met  him 
returning  home.     "Well,  sir, "  he  said,  "what  do  you  think?     IT1  be  blowed  if  he 


INFLUENCE   OF   LAWYERS.  399 

The  merchant,  with  his  large  stocks  of  goods,  groceries  and 
manufactured  articles,  including  not  only  what  might  be  termed 
necessaries,  but  even  luxuries,  tempted  the  pioneer  to  add  very 
greatly  to  his  hitherto  meagre  supplies,  and  extend  his  rela- 
tions with  trade.* 

No  recital  of  the  plastic  influence  at  work  in  Illinois  at  this 
time  would  be  complete,  however,  which  failed  to  accord  a  posi- 
tion in  the  foreground  to  the  lawyer.  He  was  as  ubiquitous  as 
the  "circuit-rider,"  whom  he  emulated  in  the  mode  and  extent 
of  his  travels;  except  that  the  preacher  went  alone,  while  the 
lawyers  went  together.  He  followed  the  judge  around  the  cir- 
cuit, and  like  his  clerical  prototype  carried  with  him  all  that  he 
had  in  the  way  of  physical  and  intellectual  outfit.  As  the 
number  of  circuits  was  multiplied,  popular  interest  in  courts  of 
justice  widened  and  deepened;  the  court-room  was  filled,  not 
onlv  with  suitors,  their  witnessess  and  friends,  but  with  a 
gaping  crowd  of  onlookers  attracted  by  their  interest  in  local 
quarrels,  who  never  tired  of  the  exciting  proceedings. 

A  jury-trial  of  this  period  not  only  supplied  the  place  of 
theatres,  the  lecture  and  concert  room,  but  formed  a  valuable 
agency  in  the  education  of  the  people,  as  well  in  regard  to  legal 
knowledge  as  in  the  broad  fundamental  principles  which  underlie 
the  framework  of  civil  government.  The  wit  and  eloquence  of 
the  advocate  delighted,  while  the  dignified  bearing  of  the  judge 
impressed  them.  The  lawyers,  appreciating  the  fact  that  suc- 
cess in  their  forensic  tilts  led  to  professional  preferments,  no 
less  than  to  political  advancement — and  few  of  them  were  not 
politicians — were  stimulated  to  put  forth  their  best  efforts. 

Such  at  this  time  were  the  forces  at  work  to  evolve  from  the 
social  chaos,  incident  to  a  new  community,  the  civic  order 
which  characterizes  that  mighty  aggregation  of  wealth,  power, 
and  influence  which  constitutes  the  Illinois  of  today. 

did'nt  have  a  respectable  pony,  nine  dollars  in  money,  and  the  identical  calf  he 
started  with  in  the  morning. " 

*  It  often  happened  that  the  useful  and  improved  articles  brought  in  and  purchased 
were  as  strange  as  they  were  new.  A  farmer  having  seen  for  the  first  time  in  the 
Black- Hawk  War  a  team  driven  abreast  in  harness  sent  for  a  set,  but  when  it 
arrived  he  found  himself  totally  unable  to  adjust  it  to  the  horses,  and  had  to  send 
ten  miles  for  a  man  who  knew  how  to  put  the  harness,  the  horses  and  wagon 
properly  together.— "Gabriel  Jones' autograph  letters.  Vol.  19,  Chicago  Historical 
Society's  Collections. " 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Administration  of  Gov.  Duncan— Ninth  General  Assembly 
—Election  of  United-States  Senator— Abraham  Lin- 
coln—Laws—Tenth General  Assembly  — Internal- 
Improvement  System  —  Illinois  -  and  -  Michigan  Canal 
—  Removal  of  the  Capital— Lincoln  and  Douglas- 
National  Politics— Killing  of  Lovejoy— 1834-1838. 

IN  1834,  there  were  four  candidates  for  governor,  namely, 
Joseph  Duncan,  James  Adams,  William  Kinney,  for  the 
second  time,  and  Robert  K.  McLaughlin,  an  uncle  of  Duncan, 
who  had  served  four  years  as  State  treasurer,  and  six  years  in 
the  legislature.  Gov.  Duncan  remained  at  Washington  attend- 
ing to  his  duties  as  a  member  of  congress  during  the  entire 
campaign,  reaching  his  constituents  solely  through  newspapers 
and  by  circulars — the  only  instance  in  this  State  of  the  election 
of  a  governor  who  had  not  been  personally  present,  and  actively 
engaged  in  making  speeches  or  otherwise  conducting  the  can- 
vass. Although  formerly  an  ardent  admirer  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son and  a  strong  supporter  of  his  administration,  he  had  become 
convinced  that  the  policy  which  his  adherents  must  endorse, 
was  neither  wise  nor  safe,  and  had  accordingly  allied  himself 
with  the  opposition.  Had  the  change  in  his  views  been  cer- 
tainly known  to  the  electors,  the  result  might  have  been  differ- 
ent; but  although  his  defection  was  suspected  and  was  charged 
against  him,  such  was  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  his  fitness 
for  the  position,  that  he  was  elected  by  a  flattering  majority, 
the  vote  standing  for  Duncan  17,349,  Kinney  10,229,  McLaugh- 
lin 4,315,  Adams  887. 

At  the  same  election  there  were  three  candidates  for  lieuten- 
ant-governor—Alexander M.  Jenkins,  who  received  13,795 
votes,  James  Evans  8609,  and  William  B.  Archer  7573. 

Joseph  Duncan  removed  to  Illinois  in  18 18,  from  Paris,  Ky., 
where  he  was  born  February  22,  1794.  His  father  Maj.  Joseph 
Duncan,  of  the  regular  army,  had  emigrated  from  Virginia  to 
Kentucky  in   1790,  and  had  five  sons,  all  of  whom  received  a 

400 


GOV.  JOSEPH   DUNCAN.  401 

collegiate  education  except  Joseph.  Capt.  Matthew  Duncan, 
also  of  the  regular  army,  and  a  brother  of  the  governor,  came 
to  Illinois  four  years  earlier,  and  founded  at  Kaskaskia  the 
first  newspaper  published  in  the  State. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  18 12,  Joseph  Duncan,  true 
to  the  martial  instincts  and  military  fame  of  his  family,  was 
among  the  first  to  enlist;  and,  although  young  in  years,  soon 
attained  distinction,  and  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy.  In 
1834,  congress,  by  joint  resolution,  instructed  the  president  to 
present  him  and  other  officers  named  therein  each  with  a  sword 
"as  a  testimony  of  the  high  sense  entertained  by  congress,  of 
the  gallantry  and  good  conduct  displayed  in  the  brilliant  and 
memorable  defense  of  Fort  Stephenson."  In  1823,  he  was 
commissioned  as  major-general  of  the  Illinois  militia,  and  in 
the  following  year  was  elected  to  the  State  senate.  He  began 
his  service  in  congress  March  4,  1827,  and  resigned  his  seat  in 
1834,  to  accept  the  position  of  governor.* 

Upon  assuming  the  duties  of  the  executive  office  after  a  service 
of  eight  years  in  congress,  Gov.  Duncan  found  that  as  regarded 
population  and  enterprise,  Illinois  had  undergone  a  marked 
change  since  the  day  upon  which  he  had  left  the  State  senate. 
The  counties  of  Greene,  Morgan,  and  Sangamon  alone  con- 
tained more  people  than  did  the  entire  Territory  when  it  applied 
for  admission  into  the  Union.  But  if  the  State  had  grown  in 
population  and  advanced  in  the  development  of  her  material 
resources,  the  ideas  of  the  governor  had  broadened  in  a  cor- 
responding ratio.  His  congressional  experience  had  afforded 
him  not  only  a  wider  acquaintance  with  public  men  and  a 
keener  insight  into  public  business,  but  it  had  also  enlarged  and 
enlightened  his  views  on  all  questions  relating  to  the  successful 
administration  of  the  internal  affairs  of  a  great  commonwealth. 

The  first  session  of  the  ninth  general  assembly  began  Dec.  I, 
1834.  James  Semple  of  Madison  County  was  elected  speaker 
without    opposition.     David    Prickett    was    for    the    third  time 

*  Returning  home  he  met  his  old  friend  John  Reynolds  who  had  resigned  the 
governorship  to  take  his  seat  in  congress.  After  a  cordial  greeting,  Duncan  said, 
"Well,  governor,  we  are  changing  horses  here,  ar'n't  we?  You  are  going  from  gover- 
nor to  congress,  and  I  am  going  from  congress  to  governor. "  "  Yes, "  said  the  old 
ranger,  "and  we  are  changing  horses  politically,  too.  You  are  ridihg  the  Yankee 
mule,  and  I  am  going  to  keep  straddle  of  Old  Hickory." 
26 


402  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

elected  clerk  of  the  house,  Walter  B.  Scates,  assistant  clerk, 
Ebenezer  Z.  Ryan,  engrossing  and  enrolling  clerk,  and  William 
C.  Murphy,  doorkeeper.  Leonard  White  was  elected  secretary 
of  the  senate,  and  Robert  M.  Gordon,  sergeant-at-arms. 

A  majority  of  the  senate  were  old  members;  among  those 
now  entering  upon  their  first  term  were,  Benjamin  Bond,  Cyrus 
Edwards,  William  J.  Gatewood,  John  S.  Hacker,  Archer  G. 
Herndon,  James  W.  Stephenson,  Edmund  D.  Taylor,  and  Wm. 
Thomas.  The  new  members  of  the  house  who  soon  rose  into 
prominence  as  leaders  were,  Milton  Carpenter,  Newton  Cloud, 
Jesse  K.  Dubois,  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  jr.,  Edwin  B.  Webb,  Orlando 
B.  Ficklin,  Charles  Dunn,  William  Manly,  and  William  Ross. 
Among  these  also  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 

In  the  message  of  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  acting  governor,  the 
financial  condition  of  the  State  was  the  chief  topic  discussed. 
In  addition  to  its  indebtedness  of  $100,000,  called  the  "Wig- 
gins' Loan,"  the  sum  of  $1 17,276  had  been  by  this  time  diverted 
from  the  school  and  seminary  fund — a  forced  loan  used  to 
defray  ordinary  expenditures. 

The  inaugural  of  Gov.  Duncan  was  mainly  devoted  to  the 
discussion  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  establishment 
of  a  system  of  public  schools,  which  he  strongly  recommended, 
and  the  importance  of  constructing  the  Illinois-and-Michigan 
Canal.  He  indeed  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  general 
system  of  internal  improvements,  without  specifically  suggest- 
ing the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  carried  out.  He  was 
also  the  first  to  recommend  in  this  address,  the  passage  of  a 
homestead-exemption  law,  remarking  that  "such  an  act  would 
have  a  tendency  to  induce  every  family,  however  poor,  to  pro- 
cure a  permanent  home,  and  would  further  tend  to  make  our 
population  more  stationary,  and  secure  the  families  of  the 
unfortunate  against  those  casualties  and  misfortunes  to  which 
we  are  all  liable."  In  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  State 
the  governor  commends  this  general  policy,  "nor  is  it  desirable 
that  the  people  should  be  entirely  relieved  from  the  burden 
of  supporting  the  government,  lest  they  might  become  indiffer- 
ent to  its  administration,  careless  in  selecting  their  officers,  and 
less  vigilant  in  scrutinizing  their  public  conduct.  To  keep  the 
government  poor,   and  the  people  rich,  is  a  political  maxim 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  403 

which  ought  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  are  charged 
with  preserving  the  purity  of  our  institutions,  and  jealously 
guarding  those  principles  in  our  constitution,  which  secure  the 
rights,  the  power,  and  freedom  of  the  people." 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  December  20,  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  a  United-States  senator.  The  candidates 
were  Gen.  Robinson  to  succeed  himself,  and  Richard  M.  Young. 
The  former  was  successful,  receiving  47  votes  to  30  for  the 
latter. 

This  general  assembly  also  witnessed  at  different  periods  the 
usual  contests  over  the  election  of  other  officers  as  follows:  for 
auditor,  in  which  James  T.  B.  Stapp  was  reelected;  for  treas- 
urer, in  which  John  Dement  was  again  successful;  and  for 
attorney  general,  which  resulted  in  favor  of  Ninian  W.  Edwards. 
On  January  14,  the  following  circuit  judges  were  elected  — 
Stephen  T.  Logan,  Sidney  Breese,  Henry  Eddy,  Justin  Harlan, 
and  Thomas  Ford. 

In  the  distribution  of  places  on  the  committees,  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  assigned  to  that  on  public  accounts  and  expenditures. 
His  first  act  as  a  member  was  to  give  notice  that  he  would  ask 
leave  to  introduce  a  bill  limiting  the  jurisdiction  of  justices-of- 
the-peace — a  measure  which  he  was  successful  in  carrying 
through.  His  next  appearance  on  the  floor  of  the  house,  was  in 
making  a  motion  to  change  the  rules,  so  that  "it  shall  not  be  in 
order  to  offer  amendments  to  any  bill  after  its  third  reading,"' 
which  was  not  agreed  to,  although  it  has  been  long  since 
adopted  by  all  legislative  bodies.  His  next  motion  was  to  take 
from  the  table  a  report  which  had  been  submitted  by  his  com- 
mittee, which  also  met  with  a  like  fate.  His  first  resolution, 
relating  to  a  State  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands,  was  denied  a  reference,  and  laid  upon  the  table. 

The  failure  of  these  several  initiatory  efforts  seems  to  have  had 
a  depressing  influence  upon  him,  as  his  name  does  not  again 
appear  upon  the  journals,  except  in  the  roll-calls,  where  it  was 
invariably  recorded.  It  is  said  however  by  his  fellow-members 
that  on  two  or  three  occasions  he  arose  in  his  place  and  spoke 
briefly  upon  pending  questions,  without  giving  any  special 
promise,  however,  of  ability  as  a  debater  or  speaker.  He  seemed 
rather  to  be  feeling  his  way,  and    taking  the   measure  of  the 


404  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

rising  men  around  him,  with  whom  he  might  at  no  distant  day- 
come  in  contact. 

Jesse  K.  Dubois,  Mr.  Lincoln's  life-long  friend,  also  a  new 
member,  took,  a  more  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  than 
he,  and  while  they  were  personally  friendly  they  ranged  them- 
selves on  different  sides.  Mr.  Lincoln  supported  Young  for 
senator,  and  Dubois,  Robinson.  Lincoln  favored  the  canal 
while  Dubois  opposed  it. 

Among  the  laws  passed  at  this  session  were  the  following: 
to  incorporate  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Illinois;  for  the  distrib- 
ution of  the  school-fund;  and  for  the  construction  of  the  Illin- 
ois-and-Michigan  Canal,  in  which  provision  was  made  for  a 
loan  of  $500,000,  and  for  a  board  of  commissioners,  who  were 
authorized  to  contract  for  work  thereon. 

A  law  was  also  passed  authorizing  the  school  commissioners 
of  Cook  County  to  loan  to  the  county  of  Cook  for  the  purpose 
of  erecting  a  court-house,  twelve  thousand  dollars,  at  a  rate 
•of  interest  not  less  than  ten  per  cent  per  annum. 

When  the  legislature  had  completed  its  work,  the  members 
feeling  doubtless  that  they  had  been  faithful  in  the  discharge 
of  their  public  functions  and  ought  to  express  their  thanks 
therefor,  as  well  as  have  their  spiritual  strength  renewed, 
requested  a  minister  who  was  present  to  close  the  session  with 
prayer.  He  signifying  that  it  would  afford  him  pleasure  to  do 
so,  the  concluding  minute  on  the  journal  records  the  fact  that 
"the  Rev.  Mr.  Hunter,  then  addressed  a  prayer  to  the  Throne 
of  Grace,  after  which  the  speaker  adjourned  the  house." 

The  second  session  of  the  ninth  general  assembly  was  con- 
vened Dec.  7,  1835,  m  pursuance  of  a  resolution  recommending 
the  same  adopted  at  the  first  session — the  principal  object 
being  to  apportion  the  State  into  legislative  districts  under 
the  census  of  1835.  The  governor  in  his  message  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  canal  commissioners  appointed  under 
the  law  of  the  previous  session,  had  failed  to  negotiate  a  loan 
and  suggested  a  revision  of  the  law. 

The  governor  also  referred  to  the  demand  for  other  internal 
improvements,  observing  that  "while  I  would  urge  the  most 
liberal  support  of  all  such  measures  as  tending  with  perfect 
certainty  to  increase  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  State, 


ELECTION    OF   UNITED-STATES   SENATOR.  405 

I  would  at  the  same  time  most  respectfully  suggest  the  pro- 
priety of  leaving  the  construction  of  all  such  works  wherein  it 
can  be  done  consistently  with  the  general  interest,  to  individual 
enterprise" — which  advice,  had  it  been  heeded  by  the  people's 
representatives,  would  have  been  the  means  of  averting  many 
serious  evils  which  afterward  befell  the  State. 

A  new  act  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  was  passed,  giv- 
ing enlarged  powers  to  the  commissioners  and  pledging  the  faith 
of  the  State  for  the  payment  of  any  loan  they  might  be  able 
to  negotiate.  Under  this  law  a  loan  of  $100,000  was  secured  by 
the  governor,  with  the  proceeds  of  which,  work  was  begun  the 
following  June. 

The  new  apportionment  law  provided  for  the  election  of 
forty-one  senators,  and  ninety-one  representatives. 

The  unexpected  demise  of  Hon.  E.  K.  Kane,  which  occurred 
at  Washington  four  days  after  the  meeting  of  the  legislature, 
devolved  upon  that  body  the  duty  of  electing  his  successor. 
A  decidedly  animated  contest  ensued,  the  principal  candidates 
being  W.  L.  D.  Ewing,  James  Semple,  and  Richard  M.  Young, 
speaker  of  the  house.  It  required  eleven  ballots  to  reach  a 
result,  Young  having  been  dropped  on  the  eighth,  although  he 
had  more  votes  than  Ewing  on  the  first.  Semple  and  Ewing 
were  twice  tied  in  the  subsequent  ballotings,  the  latter  at  last 
succeeding  by  the  close  vote  of  forty  to  thirty-seven.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  with  nearly  all  the  anti- Jackson  men,  voted  for  the 
successful  candidate. 

Gen.  Ewing  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1795.  He  had  for  a 
number  of  years  occupied  responsible  positions,  as  an  officer 
and  member  of  the  legislature,  having  presided  in  both  houses. 
He  had  also  come  out  of  the  Black- Hawk  War  with  consider- 
able credit  as  a  brave  and  dashing  commander.  His  personal 
appearance  was  altogether  in  his  favor,  and  with  agreeable 
manners,  and  fair  ability  as  a  lawyer,  he  was  quite  popular  at 
the  capital  of  the  State,  where  he  resided. 

Party-lines  of  demarcation,  from  this  time  forward,  became 
more  clearly  defined.  Those  who  had  been  supporters  of 
Adams  and  Clay,  and  in  favor  of  a  national  bank,  merging 
other  political  differences,  called  themselves  whigs,  while  the 
followers  of  Jackson   and  Van  Buren  took  the  name  of  demo- 


406  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

crats.  Neither  party  accorded  to  the  other  the  name  claimed 
by  it,  and  hence  arose  the  nicknames  of  federalist  for  the  one 
and  locofocos  for  the  other.* 

The  first  national  democratic  convention  for  the  nomination 
of  a  president  and  vice-president  was  held  at  Baltimore,  in 
May,  1835;  at  which  Martin  Van  Buren  received  the  nomina- 
tion for  the  first  office,  and  Richard  M.  Johnson  for  the  second. 
No  national  whig  convention  for  the  nomination  of  a  candidate 
to  oppose  Van  Buren  was  held.  Gen.  Harrison  was  nominated 
by  several  state  conventions,  and  Hugh  L.  White  by  the  legis- 
lature of  Tennessee,  Daniel  Webster  by  the  opposition  in 
Massachusetts,  and  Willie  P.  Mangum  of  North  Carolina,  by 
the  legislature  of  South  Carolina. 

Resolutions  endorsing  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  being 
introduced  into  the  house,  produced  an  exciting  discussion. 
Among  other  questions  entering  into  the  debate,  was  the  policy 
of  adopting  the  "convention  system,"  now  first  coming  into 
vogue  in  this  State,  by  which  all  candidates  were  to  be  nomi- 
nated by  party-representative  conventions,  duly  constituted, 
instead  of  being  brought  out  by  an  unauthorized  caucus,  or  by 
their  own  announcement.  The  democrats  advocated  the  conven- 
tion, and  the  whigs,  knowing  themselves  to  be  in  the  minority, 
and  believing  they  had  better  chances  of  success  by  preventing 
the  union  of  their  opponents  on  one  candidate,  determinedly 
opposed  it.  As  a  result  of  the  discussion,  the  resolution  endors- 
ing Van  Buren  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  thirty  to  twenty,  and 
that  approving  of  the  convention  plan,  by  the  close  vote  of 
twenty-six  to  twenty-five. 

The  election  of  1836  was  the  first  popular  expression  under 
a  new  political  era.  The  great  popularity  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
the  founder  and  chief  exponent  of  the  democratic  party, 
together  with  its  superior  organization  and  management, 
enabled  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  carry  the  State  by  2983  majority. 

The  tenth  general  assembly,  which  convened  December  5, 
1836,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  bodies  of  law-makers 

*  This  latter  sobriquet  originated  this  year  (1835)  in  New- York  City.  One  faction 
of  democrats  had  put  out  the  lights  in  a  public  hall  to  bring  a  meeting  to  an  abrupt 
termination;  the  other  faction,  having  anticipated  this  move,  immediately  produced 
candles,  which  they  ignited  with  friction,  then  called  locofoco  matches,  and,  relight- 
ing the  hall,  continued  the  meeting  to  its  successful  close. 


TENTH   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  407 

which  ever  assembled  in  the  legislative  halls  of  Illinois  or  of 
any  other  state.  Not  only  in  numerical  strength  did  it  sur- 
pass all  preceding  legislatures,  but  none  of  its  successors  has 
even  approached  it  in  respect  of  intellectual  calibre,  nor  has  the 
roll  of  any  included  so  many  names  destined  to  become  historic 
in  the  annals,  not  only  of  the  State,  but  of  the  Nation. 

Among  its  members  were  included  a  future  president  of  the 
United  States,  a  defeated  candidate  for  the  same  high  office, 
six  future  United- States  senators,  eight  members  of  the 
national  house  of  representatives,  a  secretary  of  the  interior, 
three  judges  of  the  State  supreme  court,  and  seven  State 
officers.  Here  sat  side  by  side  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Stephen 
A.  Douglas;  the  gallant  Edward  Dickinson  Baker,  who  repre- 
sented at  different  times  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Oregon  in 
the  national  councils;  O.  H.  Browning,  a  prospective  senator 
and  future  cabinet  officer,  and  William  L.  D.  Ewing,  who  had 
just  served  a  brief  period  in  the  senate;  John  Logan,  father  of 
the  late  senator,  Gen.  John  A.  Logan;  Richard  M.  Cullom, 
father  of  Senator  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  John  A.  McClernand, 
afterward  member  of  congress  for  many  years  and  a  distin- 
guished general  in  the  late  civil  war,  who  is  yet  living; 
"Uncle"  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  afterward  State  auditor  for  eight 
years,  Gen.  James  Shields,  Col.  John  J.  Hardin,  Wm.  A.  Rich- 
ardson, John  Hogan,  Robert  Smith,  and  James  Semple,  speaker 
of  the  house,  all  of  them  future  members  of  congress,  either  in 
the  senate  or  house,  or  both;  Augustus  C.  French,  a  future  gov- 
ernor, Usher  F.  Linder,  Milton  Carpenter,  John  Moore,  John 
Dougherty,  Newton  Cloud,  Archibald  Williams,  Cyrus  and 
Ninian  W.  Edwards,  W.  A.  Minshall,  Edwin  B.  Webb,  William 
Thomas,  and  John  Dement.* 

The  political  affiliations  of  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
house  were  democratic.  In  the  senate,  a  small  whig  majority 
enabled  that  party  to  elect  the  president  in  place  of  the  lieu- 
tenant-governor, A.  M.  Jenkins,  resigned;  while  the  honor  ot 
the  speakership  once  more  fell  to  James  Semple,  who  out- 
stripped in  the  race  two  competitors,  Newton  Cloud  and  John 

*  In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  especial  remark,  that  of  the  eminent  whig 
leaders  in  this  brilliant  array,  three,  Lincoln,  Baker,  and  Hardin,  met  with  death 
by  violence  in  their  country's  service. 


4-OS  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Dement,  all  of  them  democrats,  the  minority  declining  to  nom- 
inate a  candidate.  It  so  happened  that  Lincoln  and  Douglas 
for  the  first,  and  probably  the  last  time,  found  themselves 
voting  for  the  same  candidate,  Mr.  Cloud  being  the  choice  of 
both. 

This  session  of  the  legislature  was  not  only  distinguished  by 
the  activity  of  its  members,  but  was  even  more  conspicuous  on 
account  of  the  important  character  of  its  proceedings  and  leg- 
islation. The  election  of  a  United -States  senator,  several  cir- 
cuit judges,  and  State  officers,  brought  together  more  than  the 
usual  number  of  hangers-on,  lobbyists,  and  candidates.  Van- 
dalia  never  was  so  full  of  people,  and  the  opportunities  for 
effecting  combinations  and  trades  were  never  so  great.  Every 
day  brought  forth  its  exciting  discussions,  and  every  night  its 
secret  conclave  and  factional  manoeuvring. 

The  governor  in  his  message,  after  referring  to  the  canal -loan 
of  $100,000,  which  he  had  effected,  reiterating  his  views  in  favor 
of  free  schools,  and  recommending  that  the  State  subscribe  for 
stock  in  the  State  Bank,  branched  out  upon  the  subject  of 
national  politics,  arraigning  President  Jackson  for  having  vio- 
lated the  constitution,  and  condemning  his  abuse  of  the 
appointing  power,  concluding  by  invoking  an  expression  of 
opinion  on  these  topics  by  the  legislature.  It  was  an  unfortu- 
nate appeal,  the  house  placing  on  record  its  approval  "of  the 
general  course  of  the  administration"  by  the  emphatic  vote  of 
sixty-four  to  eighteen.  Following  this  came  a  discussion  on  the 
slavery  question,  which  had  a  conclusion  still  more  one-sided, 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  five  others  being  all  that  could  be  mustered 
on  the  anti-slavery  side. 

The  senatorial  election  was  held  December  14.  There  were 
five  candidates,  namely,  Richard  M.  Young,  Samuel  McRob- 
erts,  Archibald  Williams,  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  and  Thomas  C. 
Browne,  and  three  ballots  were  required  to  decide  the  contest, 
when  Young  received  68  votes,  McRoberts  24,  Williams  17, 
Ewing  12,  Browne  7,  and  Wm.  Wilson  1. 

Judge  Young  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  had  served  on 
the  bench  very  acceptably  since  1825.  He  was  not  gifted  as  a 
speaker,  but  possessed  attractive  manners  and  a  splendid  phys- 
ique— being  said,  indeed,  to  be  the  finest-looking  man  in  the 
State. 


INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS.  409 

The  election  of  State  officers  occurred  Jan.  16,  and  resulted 
in  the  selection  of  Levi  Davis,  auditor  of  public  accounts,  John 
D.  Whiteside,  treasurer,  and  Usher  F.  Linder,  attorney-general. 

In  the  meantime,  as  the  two  most  important  subjects  of  legis- 
lative action  came  more  prominently  into  view,  all  other  ques- 
tions were  left  in  abeyance.  These  were  internal  improve- 
ments, and  the  removal  of  the  capital. 

The  people  of  the  entire  country  had  at  this  time  become 
possessed  by  the  spirit  of  improvement  in  the  means  of  trans- 
portation. In  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Indiana,  impor- 
tant works  of  this  character  had  either  been  completed,  or  were 
in  process  of  construction.  Canals  found  the  greatest  favor  in 
the  East,  while  in  Kentucky,  macadamized  roads  received  the 
popular  endorsement.  The  people  of  Illinois  had  for  two  years 
been  seeking  to  find  some  means  by  which  their  State  could  be 
placed  in  the  front  rank  in  this  "march  of  progress,"  and  the 
question  now  took  complete  possession  of  the  minds  of  the 
enthusiastic  young  statesmen  to  whom  had  been  intrusted  the 
legislation  of  the  commonwealth.  Owing  to  the  level  conforma- 
tion of  the  State's  surface,  the  construction  of  railroads  seemed 
to  afford  the  readiest  solution  of  the  problem.  Their  success- 
ful operation  in  England,  and  their  growing  popularity  wher- 
ever they  had  been  tried  in  this  country,  were  strong  arguments 
in  their  favor. 

The  advocates  of  this  improvement  pointed  to  the  fact  that 
the  twenty-three  miles  of  this  new  method  of  transportation 
which  existed  in  the  United  States  in  1830,  had  grown  to 
nearly  eleven  hundred  miles  in  1836,  of  which  Massachusetts 
had  140  miles,  New  York  175,  New  Jersey  109,  Pennsylvania 
231,  Maryland  156,  Virginia  100,  and  South  Carolina  136. 

Pennsylvania  had  taken  the  lead  in  internal  improvements,, 
having  now  in  operation  218  miles  of  railroads  and  914  miles  of 
canals.  Why  should  the  State  of  Illinois  fall  behind  others  in 
providing  the  necessary  facilities  for  commerce  and  trade? 

To  strengthen  and  encourage  this  feeling  on  the  part  of  their 
law-makers,  the  people  held  public  meetings  in  various  portions 
of  the  State,  at  which  its  superior  advantages — its  fertile  soil, 
genial  climate,  and  broad  extent  —  were  presented  as  only 
needing  the  improved    means  of  transportation    furnished    by 


4IO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

railroads  to  enable  it  to  take  the  lead  in  population  and  wealth. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  of  these  meetings  was  a  con- 
vention held  at  Vandalia,  attended  by  delegates  from  all  parts 
of  the  State,  at  which  the  legislature  was  urged  to  act  without 
delay. 

The  first  member  formally  to  move  in  proposing  a  plan  to  the 
legislature  was  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Morgan  County,  who, 
early  in  the  session,  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions,  in  which 
the  improvements  to  be  made  were  specifically  described,  and 
setting  forth  that  they  should  be  constructed  and  owned  by  the 
State,  and  that  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  them  forward  a  loan 

of millions  of  dollars  should    be  negotiated  on  the  faith 

of  the  State.  These  resolutions  formed  the  basis  of  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  internal  improvements,  which 
indorsed  and  enlarged  upon  the  plan  thus  briefly  outlined.  The 
example  of  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana  in  adopting  a  general 
-system  of  improvements  was  cited,  and  it  was  urged  that  if  Illi- 
nois failed  to  exhibit  equal  enterprise,  not  only  would  immigra- 
tion cease,  but  the  State  would  lose  the  inhabitants  she  already 
had;  that  such  a  system  was  entirely  practicable,  and,  if 
adopted,  would  result  in  the  entry  of  large  quantities  of  land,  as 
well  as  increasing  the  taxable  property;  and  that  the  tolls  on 
the  road  would  yield  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
cost. 

A  bill,  embodying  substantially  the  plan  recommended  by 
the  committee,  was  introduced,  and  after  full  discussion  and  a 
few  amendments,  was  finally  passed,  Feb.  27.  In  the  house,  the 
vote  stood  sixty-one  yeas  to  twenty-five  nays.  Among  the  for- 
mer were  Douglas,  Baker,  Edwards,  French,  Hogan,  Lincoln, 
Snyder,  McClernand,  Robert  Smith,  Shields,  and  Semple; 
among  the  nays  were  Hardin,  Minshall,  and  Richardson,  in  the 
house,  and  Browning  and  Thomas,  in  the  senate. 

The  council  of  revision  returned  the  bill  with  their  objections, 
the  governor  taking  occasion  to  remark,  in  accordance  with  his 
well-known  and  frequently-expressed  views,  that  such  works 
could  only,  in  his  opinion,  be  made  safely  and  economically  in  a 
free  government  by  citizens,  or  by  independent  corporations, 
aided  and  authorized  by  the  government.  But  notwithstand- 
ing the  objections  so  wisely  urged,  and  the  persistent  efforts  of 


REMOVAL   OF   THE   CAPITAL.  41  1 

the  able  minority,  the  bill  again  passed  by  the  constitutional 
majority.* 

The  bill  providing  for  a  change  in  the  seat  of  government 
was  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  nine  members 
from  Sangamon  County.  This  delegation  was  remarkable,  not 
only  for  the  mental  ability  of  its  members,  but  also  for  their  phys- 
ical stature,  their  combined  height  aggregating  precisely  fifty- 
four  feet — an  average  of  six  feet  for  each.  For  this  reason  they 
were  then,  and  have  been  ever  since,  spoken  of  as  the  "long 
nine."  Their  names  were  A.  G.  Herndon  and  Job  Fletcher,  in 
the  senate,  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  John 
Dawson,  Andrew  McCormick,  Dan  Stone,  Wm.  F.  Elkins,  and 
Robert  L.  Wilson,  in  the  house. 

The  movement  of  population  toward  the  centre  of  the  State, 
had  made  it  evident  for  some  years  that  Vandalia  would  not  be 
permitted  to  remain  the  capital  after  the  expiration  of  the 
twenty  years  specified  at  the  time  of  its  location.  A  bill,  in- 
deed, had  been  passed  at  the  session  of  1833,  submitting  the 
question  of  a  relocation  to  the  people,  offering  them  a  choice  of 
selection  between  Springfield,  Jacksonville — the  centre,  Alton, 
Vandalia,  and  Peoria;  but  neither  of  these  points  was  able  to 
command  anything  approaching  a  majority.  Vandalia  led  in 
the  poll,  but  received  only  about  one-fifth  of  the  votes  cast. 

One  of  the  reasons  urged  for  the  necessity  of  a  speedy 
change  was  that  the  State-house,  which  had  been  badly  con- 
structed, was  no  longer  habitable.  To  obviate  this  difficulty  the 
old  building  had  been  torn  down  during  the  summer  and  a  new 

*  The  gigantic  scheme  thus  adopted  provided  for  the  construction  of  the  following 
public  works,  at  the  cost  specified : — 

Improvement  of  the  Wabash,  Illinois,  and  Rock  rivers,  $100,000 
each;  the  Little  Wabash  and  Kaskaskia  rivers,  $50,000  each; 
total  for  rivers,  ......         $400,000 

For  the  improvement  of  the  Great  Western  Mail-Route,      -  -     250,000 

On  Railroads:  from  Cairo  to  Galena,       ....        3,500,000 

Alton  to  Mt.  Carmel,  1,600,000;  Northern-Cross  R.R.,  i,Soo,ooo,     3,400,000 
A  branch  of  the  Central  Road  to  Terre  Haute,  -  -  650,000 

Peoria  to  Warsaw,  700,000;   Alton  to  Central  R.R.,  600,000,  1,300,000 

Belleville  to  Mt.  Carmel,  .....  150,000 

Bloomington  to  Mackinaw  town,         .....     350,000 

To  counties  in  lieu  of  railroads  or  canals,  ...  200,000 

$10, 200,  coo 


412  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

one  built,  at  a  cost  of  some  $16,000,  of  which  the  citizens  and 
workmen  took  the  risk.  Of  this  sum,  the  governor  had 
advanced  $6000  from  the  contingent  fund.  But  when  the  peo- 
ple found  that  their  enterprising  scheme  had  failed  to  affect  the 
question  of  removal,  they  were  very  glad  to  have  an  appropria- 
tion bill  passed  covering  the  amount  of  the  bills  for  its  erection. 

The  single  measure,  to  the  success  of  which  the  "long  nine" 
bent  all  their  energies,  was  the  permanent  location  of  the  capi- 
tal at  Springfield.  They  had  no  favorite  route  for  a  railroad, 
and  were  thus  left  perfectly  untrammeled  to  assist  and  promote 
the  pet  schemes  of  others,  who  were  willing  to  reciprocate  in 
kind.  Nine  solid  votes  would  go  far  toward  turning  the  scale 
in  favor  of  any  close  question,  and  were  always  thrown  where 
they  would  accomplish  the  most  satisfactory  results.  Still,  such 
was  the  power  of  local  interests,  every  other  would-be  capital 
having  its  friends  outside  of  its  delegation,  as  well  as  its  active 
"log-rollers,"  that  at  one  time  the  fate  of  the  bill  seemed  more 
than  doubtful,  and  the  hopes  of  its  promoters  began  to  fade.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  however,  never  for  a  moment  faltered.  Assembling  his 
colleagues  for  consultation,  he  proceeded  to  outline  a  policy, 
evincing  at  once  his  sound,  practical  sense  and  his  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature.  The  result  was  to  inspire  the  advocates 
of  the  measure  with  fresh  courage.*  New  combinations 
were  effected,  and  the  bill  was  finally  passed,  Feb.  25,  the  vote 
standing  in  the  house  46  to  37,  and  in  the  senate  24  to  13. 

The  internal-improvement  measure  became  a  law,  Feb.  27, 
and  the  next  day  the  two  houses  met  "to  select  a  place  for 
the  permanent  seat  of  government,"  in  pursuance  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  former  bill,  which  resulted  in  the  selection  of 
Springfield  on  the  fourth  ballot.-f* 

The  act  appropriated  $50,000  toward  the  erection  of  a  State- 
house  at  the  point  to  be  selected,  contingent  upon  the  donation 
by  individuals  of  the  same  amount,  to  be  secured    by  bonds, 

*  Arnold's  "Life  of  Lincoln,"  5. 

+  The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  balloting  in  detail : — 


place,    ballot: 

1ST. 

2D. 

3D- 

4th. 

PLACE.       BALLOT  : 

1ST. 

2D. 

3D- 

4TH. 

Springfield, 

35 

43 

53 

73 

Alton, 

15 

16 

14 

6 

Jacksonville, 

14 

15 

9 

1 

Illiopolis, 

— 

IO 

3 

— 

Vandalia, 

16 

15 

16 

15 

Scattering, 

25 

7 

15 

7 

Peoria, 

16 

12 

11 

6 

ERA   OF    SPECULATION.  413 

together  with  not  less  than  two  acres  of  ground,  to  be  donated 
to  the  State,  upon  which  to  erect  the  public  buildings. 

A  necessary  part  of  the  system  of  improvements  adopted 
was  the  construction  of  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal,  to  fur- 
ther which  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  the  sale  of  canal 
lands  to  the  amount  of  $1,000,000,  and  providing  for  an  addi- 
tional loan  of  $500,000,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be 
expended  during  1838. 

The  fact  that  the  internal-improvement  and  canal  schemes, 
and  that  for  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government,  were  made 
to  support  each  other,  secured  many  votes  for  each  which  it 
might  not  have  been  able  to  obtain  on  its  own  merits.  The 
friends  of  the  canal  were  menaced  with  defeat  if  they  failed  to 
support  the  general-improvement  bill,  while  the  promoters  of 
the  latter  threatened  to  withhold  support  from  the  canal  unless 
their  measure  went  through.  The  counties  which  failed  to 
secure  any  railroads  or  canals  were  placated  with  the  promise  of 
$200,000,  to  be  divided  among  them  according  to  population. 
The  "long  nine"  in  the  meantime  stood  ready  on  all  occasions 
to  apply  their  strength  whsre  the  most  valuable  returns  might 
be  obtained. 

Another  measure  which  was  also  made  to  bear  upon  the  gen- 
eral result  was  the  law  increasing  the  capital  stock  of  the  State 
Bank  $2,000,000,  and  that  of  the  Bank  of  Shawneetown 
$1,400,000. 

After  having  enacted  laws  more  far-reaching  in  their  results 
than  the  members  had  foreseen,  the  legislature  adjourned, 
March  6,  amid  the  plaudits  of  a  grateful  constituency.  Only 
the  so-called  misguided  and  narrow-minded  minority  were 
received  with  coldness,  and  made  the  subjects  of  public  censure. 

The  adjournment  was  followed  by  an  era  of  speculation 
unprecedented  in  the  history  of  the  State.  There  was  about  to 
be  realized  in  rich  fruition  the  rose-colored  future  of  prosperity 
depicted  by  the  governor  in  his  message  of  1835,  in  which  he 
alluded  to  the  construction  of  railroads  and  canals  as  "bearing 
with  seeming  triumph  the  rich  productions  of  the  interior  to  the 
rivers,  lakes,  and  ocean,  almost  annihilating  time,  burthen,  and 
space." 

The  fever  of  speculation,  then  in  its  incipient  stages,  rapidly 


4H  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

advanced  in  intensity  until,  when,  the  advocates  of  a  vast  sys- 
tem of  improved  transportation  beheld,  in  the  passage  of  this 
act,  the  materialization  of  their  wildest  dreams,  fever  developed 
into  mania,  reason  was  dethroned,  and  the  folly  of  inflation  held 
high  carnival. 

The  ease  with  which  sales  of  real  estate  were  effected  was 
equaled  only  by  the  phenomenal  profits  realized  upon  its  redis- 
posal.  Towns  sprang  up  in  a  night,  and  cities  in  a  day,  the 
names  even  of  some  of  which  have  long  since  been  forgotten. 
On  paper,  each  was  destined  to  become  the  metropolis  of  a 
dense  population,  and  corner  lots  sold  at  fabulous  prices,  while 
less  eligible  sites  were  valued  in  proportion. 

This  speculative  craze,  however,  proved  an  ultimate  boon  to 
Chicago,  toward  whose  extraordinary  growth  both  blind  chance 
and  sagacious  foresight  seem  to  have  contributed,  for  in  her 
case  the  vagaries  of  speculators  served  as  an  advertisement, 
against  whose  value  even  the  subsequent  hard  times  failed  to 
militate. 

With  the  hurricane  of  speculation  which  swept  over  the 
State,  the  tide  of  immigration  flowed  in  like  a  torrent;  every 
steamboat  on  the  rivers  and  lakes  was  crowded  with  eager 
passengers,  coming  either  to  locate  permanently  or  to  partici- 
pate in  the  prospective  gains  which  this  furor  of  inflation  prom- 
ised. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature  occurred  an 
event  as  unexpected  as  it  ultimately  proved  to  be  disastrous  to 
the  business  interests  of  the  country.  This  was  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  throughout  the  United  States 
— a  policy  which  necessity  forced  the  Illinois  banks  to  adopt. 
But  as  the  law  incorporating  these  banks  provided  that  if  they 
refused  specie  payments  for  sixty  consecutive  days  they  should 
forfeit  their  chartered  privileges,  the  governor  was  requested  to 
call  a  special  session  of  the  legislature  to  determine  the  ques- 
tion of  legalizing  the  suspension.  It  met  July  io,  and  the  gov- 
ernor, after  referring  in  his  message  to  the  deranged  financial 
condition  of  the  country,  availed  himself  of  the  occasion  to 
recommend  the  repeal  of  the  internal-improvement  law  of  the 
last  session,  wisely  remarking  that  "the  disasters  which  had 
already  fallen  upon  the  commercial  world  suggested  the  neces- 


FUND   COMMISSIONERS.  4 1  J 

sity  of  escaping  from  the  perils  of  a  system  which  could  only  be 
fraught  with  evil."  The  law  to  legalize  the  suspension  of  the 
banks  was  passed,  but  the  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  internal- 
improvement  system,  introduced  in  accordance  with  his  advice,, 
was  laid  on  the  table  by  a  vote  of  53  to  34. 

Little  other  business  was  transacted  at  this  session,  which 
adjourned  July  22. 

The  fund  commissioners,  under  the  law,  were  clothed  with 
the  power  of  negotiating  all  loans,  and  the  care  of  the  moneys 
arising  therefrom.  They  were  elected  by  the  legislature,  the 
first  board  consisting  of  Thomas  Mather,  Charles  Oakley,  and 
M.  M.  Rawlings.  In  the  latter  part  of  July,  1837,  the  commis- 
sioners proceeded  to  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
money.  And  although  they  were  somewhat  disappointed  in  not 
finding  that  demand  for  State  securities  which  they  anticipated,, 
and  notwithstanding  the  disturbance  in  bank  circles,  which  the 
opponents  of  the  "system"  hoped  would  prevent  the  making  of 
any  loans,  they  succeeded  in  effecting  sales  of  4869  bonds,, 
whose  par  value  aggregated  $4,869,000.  One  hundred  sold  at 
a  premium  of  5  per  cent,  200  at  2]/2  per  cent,  12 16  at  2  per 
cent,  and  the  remainder  at  par.  Other  sales  were  negotiated,, 
and  by  Dec.  24,  1838,  there  had  come  into  the  hands  of  the 
commissioners,  as  shown  by  their  report,  the  sum  of  $5,668,000, 
while  the  amount  disbursed  by  them  up  to  this  time  was 
$4,648,399,  on  the  following  accounts: — 

For  bank  stock,           -             -             -             -  $3,000,000 

To  the  commissioners  of  public  works,     -  1,142,027 

To  counties,   -----  144,700 

For  interest,           -  292,250 

For  iron  and  expenses,            -  69,422 

Leaving  an  unexpended  balance  of           -  1,019,604 

The  board  of  public  works,  also  elected  by  the  legislature, 
consisted  of  William  Kinney — president,  Murray  McConnel, 
Elijah  Willard,  Milton  K.  Alexander,  Joel  Wright,  John  Dixon, 
and  Ebenezer  Peck.  As  fast  as  routes  could  be  surveyed  in 
their  respective  districts,  contracts  for  construction  were  let. 
The  first  work  done  was  on  that  part  of  the  Northern-Cross- 
Railroad,  from  Meredosia  to  Jacksonville,  in  May,  1837.      The 


4IO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

amount  expended  by  the  board  upon  the  several  objects  of 
improvement  up  to  Dec.  24.  1838,  was  as  follows:  Railroads, 
$950,593;  the  Great  Western  Mail-route,  $102,988;  rivers, 
$26,212. 

The  State  debt  at  the  incoming  of  Gov.  Duncan's  administra- 
tion was  $217,276,  which  included  the  amount  of  the  Wiggins 
loan  of  $100,000,  and  the  forced  loan  from  the  school  and  sem- 
inary fund,  $1 17,276.  At  the  close  of  his  term,  Dec.  4,  1838,  it 
reached  $6,688,784,  as  follows: — 

Bonds  sold  for  bank  stock          -  $2,665,000 

Bonds  for  internal  improvements     -  2,204,000 

Bonds  for  construction  of  the  canal     -  -            1,000,000 

Due  to  the  school  and  seminary  fund  -         -          719,784 

Amount  of  the  Wiggins  loan      -  100,000 

Total  -------     $6,688,784 

Having  brought  the  history  of  Gov.  Duncan's  administration, 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  legislation  and  internal  policy,  to  its  close, 
an  event  will  now  be  noticed  which  not  only  formed  an  exciting 
episode  of  the  time,  but  assumed  even  national  importance — 
namely,  the  Alton  riots. 

Elijah  Parish  Lovejoy,  a  native  of  Maine,  where  he  was  born 
Nov.  8,  1802,  was  the  son  of  a  Congregational  minister.  Emi- 
grating to  St.  Louis  in  1827,  he  found  employment  upon  the 
staff  of  the  St.  Louis  Times,  a  whig  newspaper.  After  entering 
the  Presbyterian  ministry,  in  1833,  he  assumed  editorial  control 
of  the  St.  Louis  Observer,  a  religious  newspaper,  patronized  prin- 
cipally by  his  denomination  in  Missouri  and  Illinois.  In  1835, 
Mr.  Lovejoy  became  earnestly  interested  in  the  slavery  question, 
and  many  of  his  editorials  contained  strong  arguments  against 
"the  peculiar  institution."  Being  published  in  a  slave-state, 
they  not  unnaturally  excited  unfavorable  comment  and  even 
animadversion.  So  much  so,  indeed,  that  nine  influential  citi- 
zens and  supporters  of  his  paper,  among  them  Judge  Gam- 
ble, Rev.  Dr.  W.  S.  Potts,  and  Nathan  Ranney,  addressed  him 
a  letter  protesting  against  his  course,  and  counselling  him,  in 
view  of  the  excited  state  of  the  public  mind  on  the  subject  of 
abolitionism,  "to  pass  over  in  silence  everything  connected  with 
the  subject."     To  which  request,  in  a  very  able  article  on  the 


REV.  E.  P.  LOVEJOY.  417 

liberty  of  the  press,  he  declined  to  accede.  He  was  then 
requested  by  the  proprietors  to  retire  from  the  editorship  of  the 
paper,  to  which  he  consented;  but  in  the  meantime  the  paper 
changed  hands,  and  he  was  continued  in  charge  as  before.  In 
the  issue  of  June  21,  1836,  he  announced  his  intention  of 
removing  the  paper  to  Alton,  but  on  the  eve  of  its  transfer  the 
office  was  entered  by  a  mob  and  most  of  the  material 
destroyed.  What  was  left  of  the  press  was  in  due  time 
shipped,  but  during  the  night  after  it  was  landed  was  thrown 
into  the  river  and  destroyed.  The  citizens  of  Alton,  at  a  pub- 
lic meeting,  disavowed  the  act,  and  subscribed  money  to  pur- 
chase a  new  press,  and  the  first  number  of  the  paper  was  issued 
at  Alton  Sept.  8,  1836. 

At  the  public  meeting  alluded  to,  Mr.  Lovejoy  stated  that, 
while  strongly  opposed  to  slavery,  he  was  not  an  abolitionist, 
and  it  has  been  alleged  on  the  one  hand  and  denied  on  the 
other  that  he  gave  a  pledge  not  to  meddle  with  the  subject.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  as  the  months  rolled  by  the  anti-slavery  tone  of 
the  paper  became  more  distinct,  and  his  paper  came  to  be  as 
offensive  to  the  pro-slavery  element  at  Alton  as  it  had  been  at 
St.  Louis,  and  the  general  indignation  found  expression  in  reso- 
lutions condemning  the  course  of  the  Observer,  adopted  at  a 
public  meeting  July  11,  1837.  His  reply  to  the  committee  who 
presented  them  was  courteous  but  unyielding,  and  on  the  night 
of  August  21,  a  mob  of  a  dozen  persons  broke  into  the  office  and 
destroyed  the  press  and  material. 

Funds  were  not  wanting  from  willing  contributors,  with  which 
a  third  press  and  type  were  purchased,  which  arrived  Sept.  21, 
and  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  were  placed  in  a  warehouse. 
That  same  night  another  mob  gathered,  this  time  partially  dis- 
guised, forced  an  entrance  into  the  store,  rolled  the  press  out, 
broke  it  into  pieces,  and  sent  it  after  the  others  into  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

A  fourth  press  was  ordered,  but  by  this  time  such  was  the 
bitter  antagonism  which  assailed  him  that  it  was  considered 
whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  remove  to  Quincy,  or  some 
other  point,  rather  than  attempt  to  stem  the  storm  of  opposition 
at  Alton.  But  when  it  became  known  that  he  had  determined  to 
fight  it  out,  a  public  meeting  was  called,  Nov.  2,  to  consider  the 
27 


41 8  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

situation.  The  popular  feeling,  as  shown  by  speeches  from  such 
men  as  Gen.  U.  F.  Linder,  Rev.  John  Hogan,  and  Cyrus  Edwards, 
was  decidedly  against  Mr.  Lovejoy.  He  appeared  in  his  own 
defense,  and  made  a  most  eloquent  and  affecting  appeal  in  sup- 
port of  a  free  press  and  free  speech,  in  which  he  said:  "I  have, 
Mr.  Chairman,  not  desired  nor  asked  any  compromise.  I  have 
asked  for  nothing  but  to  be  protected  in  my  rights  as  a  citizen 
— rights  which  God  has  given  me,  and  which  are  guaranteed  to 
me  by  the  constitution  of  my  country.  Have  I,  sir,  been  guilty 
of  any  infraction  of  the  laws?  What,  I  ask,  has  been  my 
offense?  Put  your  finger  upon  it — define  it — and  I  stand  ready 
to  answer  for  it.  If  I  have  committed  any  crime  you  can 
easily  convict  me.  You  have  public  sentiment  in  your  favor. 
*  *  *  But  if  I  have  been  guilty  of  no  violation  of  law,  why 
am  I  hunted  up  and  down  the  country  like  a  partridge  upon  the 
mountains?  I  plant  myself,  sir,  down  on  my  unquestionable 
rights,  and  the  question  to  be  decided  is,  whether  I  shall  be 
protected  in  the  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  those  rights; 
whether  my  property  shall  be  protected;  whether  I  shall  be 
suffered  to  go  home  to  my  family  at  night  without  being 
assailed  and  threatened  with  tar  and  feathers  and  assassination; 
whether  my  afflicted  wife,  whose  life  has  been  in  jeopardy  from 
continued  alarm  and  excitement,  shall,  night  after  night,  be 
driven  from  her  sick-bed  into  the  garret,  to  save  her  life  from 
the  brick-bats  and  violence  of  the  mobs — that,  sir,  is  the  ques- 
tion? *  *  *  I  have  concluded,  after  consultation  with  my 
friends,  and  earnestly  seeking  counsel  of  God,  to  remain  at 
Alton,  and  here  to  insist  on  protection  in  the  exercise  of  my 
rights.  If  the  civil  authorities  refuse  to  protect  me,  I  must  look 
to  God;  and  if  I  die,  I  have  determined  to  make  my  grave  in 
Alton." 

The  speech  made  a  deep  impression,  and  there  was  a  time 
when  the  tide  seemed  to  be  turning  in  his  favor;  but  all  to  no 
purpose.  Resolutions  were  adopted  to  the  effect  that  it  was 
indispensable  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  should  not  be  allowed  to  con- 
duct a  paper,  and  that  he  ought  to  retire  from  the  charge 
of  the  Alton  Observer. 

The  fatal  issue  was  joined.  The  fourth  press  was  landed  on 
the  night  of  Nov.  6,  1837,  and  safely  stored  in  the  warehouse  of 


ALTON    RIOTS.  419 

Godfrey,  Gilman  &  Co.  Fearing  an  attack  a  volunteer  guard  of 
sixty  was  maintained  about  the  building  all  the  next  day,  and 
until  nine  o'clock  at  night,  when  everything  remaining  quiet,  the 
guard  went  to  their  homes,  with  the  exception  of  nineteen,  who, 
at  the  request  of  Mr.  Gilman,  remained  on  the  premises.  Pres- 
ently, however,  a  large  mob  began  to  gather  around  the  ware- 
house— a  double  building,  three  stories  high.  Two  of  the  lead- 
ers, asking  for  admittance,  demanded  the  surrender  of  the 
press,  stating  that  if  it  was  not  given  up  the  house  would  be 
burned,  and  all  within  put  in  peril  of  their  lives.  The  demand 
was  refused.  The  mob  then  attacked  the  building  and 
attempted  to  batter  down  the  front  door.  A  shot  was  fired 
from  the  inside  which  killed  Lyman  Bishop.  This  enraged  the 
assailants,  who  renewed  the  attack  with  redoubled  force. 
Mayor  John  M.  Krum  appeared  on  the  scene  and  ordered  the 
attacking  party  to  disperse,  a  command  to  which  no  attention 
was  paid.  A  ladder  was  raised  on  the  east  side  of  the  building 
and  a  man  sent  up  to  fire  the  roof.  Volunteers  were  called  for 
to  dislodge  the  incendiary,  which  was  responded  to  by  Lovejoy 
and  two  others,  who  stepped  out  upon  the  levee  and  fired  upon 
the  man  on  the  ladder,  but  without  effect.  The  fire  was  imme- 
diately returned  by  two  or  three  men  concealed  near  by  behind 
a  pile  of  lumber.  Lovejoy,  who  was  in  plain  view,  received  five 
buckshot  in  his  body,  and  running  into  the  building  and  up- 
stairs, exclaimed:  "My  God!  I  am  shot!"  and,  falling  into  the 
arms  of  a  friend,  died  without  a  struggle.  No  inquest  was  held 
on  the  body,  and  he  was  buried  the  following  day. 

At  the  January  term  (1838)  of  the  Alton  municipal  court, 
Winthrop  S.  Gilman,  representing  his  associates,  the  defenders 
of  the  press,  was  tried  for  riot  and  acquitted.  At  the  same 
term  John  Solomon,  Horace  Beall,  James  M.  Rock,  Jacob 
Smith,  James  Jennings,  and  others,  the  assailants,  were 
arraigned  on  a  similar  charge,  with  like  result. 

It  was  claimed  that  the  fatal  shots  which  caused  Lovejoy \s 
death  were  fired  by  Dr.  Jennings  and  his  comrade,  Dr.  Beall. 
And  it  is  said  that  the  former  was  afterward  cut  to  pieces  in  a 
bar-room  fight  in  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  and  that  the  latter,  while 
attached  to  a  scouting  party  of  Texas  rangers,  was  captured  by 
the  Comanche  Indians  and  burned  alive. 


420  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

The  tragic  death  of  Lovejoy  created  widespread  excitement. 
It  was  discussed  at  public  meetings  and  in  the  press — some 
papers  coming  out  in  mourning.  The  voice  of  condemnation 
was  almost  universal.  Lovejoy,  it  was  said,  had  found  a  grave 
in  the  bosom  of  a  free-state;  and  the  martyrdom  of  the  repre- 
sentative of  philanthropy,  liberty,  and  justice  would  kindle  a 
flame  which  years  could  not  extinguish. 

In  the  character  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  were  combined  many  traits 
of  rare  excellence.  His  mental  powers  were  of  a  high  order; 
he  was  endowed  with  keen  perceptions,  and  attained  merited 
distinction  as  both  a  writer  and  pulpit  orator.  His  convictions 
were  deep-seated,  and  his  fidelity  was  shown  by  that  undaunted 
bravery  with  which  they  were  maintained.  To  physical  and 
moral  courage  were  united  a  temperament  as  ardent  as  it  was 
amiable.  Reviewing  his  course  from  the  standpoint  of  today, 
however,  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century  fraught  with  events 
so  momentous  to  the  nation  and  to  the  world,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  it  was  needlessly  irritating  and  offensive  to  a  majority 
of  his  fellow-citizens,  among  whom  were  many  personal  and 
political  friends.  His  intellect  and  will  surpassed  his  judgment, 
and  his  enthusiasm  developed  into  zealotry.  In  his  contempla- 
tion of  the  end  he  lost  sight  of  the  best  means  by  which  it 
might  be  attained;  ordinary  prudence  seemed  to  him  a  mere 
juggling  with  principle.  His  friends  insisted  that  he  was  not 
an  ultra-abolitionist,  but  that  he  died  a  martyr  to  free  speech, 
and  as  such  revere  his  memory  today.  Yet  it  must  not  be  for- 
o-otten  that  in  his  day  and  generation  lived  other  reformers 
whose  detestation  of  slavery  was  as  deep  as  his,  yet  whose 
better-balanced  minds  perceived  that  to  be  outspoken  was  not 
necessarily  to  be  intolerant ;  and  that  inconsiderate  aggression 
was  often  a  less  potent  agency  than  the  quiet  moderation  which 
not  infrequently  covers  a  hidden  but  smouldering  fire. 

The  attitude  of  Gov.  Duncan  towardjme  Alton  riot  was  both 
conservative  and  consistent.  His  authority  as  chief  executive 
was  invoked  "to  save  the  State  from  lawless  violence  and 
blood-euiltiness."  He  characterized  the  work  of  the  mob  as 
"an  outrage,  which  must  be  disapproved  and  regretted  by  all 
good  citizens,"  but  at  the  same  time  he  expressed  his  decided 
disapprobation  of  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  any 


ASSASSINATION    OF   LOVEJOY.  421 

community,  where  it  produced  only  violence  and  discord,  with- 
out the  probability  of  effecting  any  good  result. 

The  effect  of  the  assassination  of  Lovejoy  was  twofold.  At 
the  time,  such  a  violent  outbreak  of  pro-slavery  sentiment  could 
hardly  fail  to  impress  the  opponents  of  the  system  with  the 
knowledge  that  they  were  treading  on  dangerous  ground;  and 
while  they  were  resolved  not  to  intermit  their  earnest  efforts  in 
behalf  of  the  slave,  policy,  no  less  than  wisdom,  indicated  that 
they  should  be  conducted  with  greater  prudence  and  circum- 
spection. The  advocates  of  slavery,  on  the  other  hand,  while 
denouncing  mob  violence,  yet  cherished  the  hope  that  free 
thought  and  free  speech  had  received  a  blow  which  could  hardly 
fail  to  produce  an  intimidating  and  therefore  salutary  effect. 
But  as  the  seed  dropped  into  the  ground  dies  before  it  bears 
fruit,  so  did  each  act  of  violence,  though  apparently  ignored, 
bring  forth  fruit  in  the  minds  of  even  the  most  conservative 
opponents  of  slavery.  And  as  imprisoned  volcano  fires,  when 
once  they  burst  their  barriers  of  confining  crust,  pour  forth  in 
a  torrent  all  the  more  impetuous  because  long  restrained,  so 
did  the  smouldering  indignation  of  the  friends  of  freedom  ulti- 
mately burst  forth,  until,  like  a  resistless  torrent,  it  had  swept 
from  the  face  of  the  country  the  last  vestige  of  the  Nation's 
curse. 

Seizing  upon  this  aspect  of  the  effect  of  the  martyr's  death, 
and  as  prophetic  of  the  coming  storm,  his  brother,  Owen  Love- 
joy,  in  i860,  concluded  a  speech  at  Alton  in  which  he  referred 
to  the  tragic  event  in  these  words: — 

"Twenty-three  years  ago  the  blood  of  my  brother,  slain  in 
these  streets,  ran  down  and  mingled  with  the  waters  of  the 
mighty  river  which  sweeps  past  your  city  to  the  sea: 

'The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 

The  Severn  to  the  sea — 
And  scattered  wide  as  Wycliffe's  name, 

Shall  Wycliffe's  ashes  be.' "  * 

At  the  close  of  his  term  of  office,  Gov.  Duncan  returned   to 

*  Authorities:— "Memoirs  of  E.  P.  Lovejoy,  by  Joseph  C.  and  Owen  Lovejoy;" 
"Alton  Riots,  by  Edward  Beecher;"  "Alton  Trials,  by  Wm.  S.  Lincoln;"  "Mar- 
tyrdom of  Lovejoy,  by  Henry  Tanner;"  "Lovejoy— An  Address,  by  Thomas  Dim- 
mock." 


422  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

his  home  in  Jacksonville,  to  which  place  he  had  removed  soon 
after  his  marriage,  in  1828,*  and  where  he  built  the  first  frame- 
house. 

The  structure,  known  during  his  term  as  the  "executive  man- 
sion," and  which  is  yet  in  a  fine  state  of  preservation,  was  erected 
in  1834.  It  is  an  old-fashioned  two-story  frame  building,-|-  with 
a  side  front,  and  was  modeled  after  his  father's  house  in  Paris, 
Ky.,  in  which  he  was  born. 

The  governor  devoted  his  time  after  his  return  home  to  busi- 
ness and  the  care  of  his  large  landed  estate.  He  was  a  warm 
friend  of  temperance,  to  which  cause  he  gave  $500  per  annum 
toward  sustaining  a  paper.  He  was  ever  active  in  educational 
circles,  and  contributed  $10,000  to  the  Illinois  College,  of  which 
institution  he  was  a  trustee  for  many  years.  He  was  also  the 
first  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  institution  for  the 
education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  at  Jacksonville. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  1835, 
and  was  ever  after  an  earnest  member  of  that  denomination. 

In  1842,  he  was  induced  again  to  enter  politics,  and  became 
the  whig  candidate  for  governor,  and  for  the  first  time  met  with 
defeat. 

Gov.  Duncan  was  of  massive  frame,  and  finely  proportioned. 
He  had  brown,  expressive  eyes,  dark,  curly  hair,  a  smooth  face, 
and  clear  complexion.  He  was  kindly  and  genial,  though  reso- 
lute of  purpose.  Modest  and  unassuming,  he  was  tenacious  of 
his  views,  and  courageous  in  giving  them  expression. 

Not  belonging  to  any  of  the  learned  professions  which  afford 
opportunities  for  display,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  he  received  credit 
for  the  real  abilities  he  possessed.  He  was  not  gifted  as  a  public 
speaker,  but   his  writings,  though  not  numerous,  evinced  deep 

*  He  was  introduced  to  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Caldwell  Smith,  daughter  of  a  retired 
banker  and  merchant  of  New- York  City,  at  a  dinner-party  at  President  Adams'. 
Henry  Clay  sat  next  to  her,  and  whispered  in  her  ear  that  "Duncan  was  not  only  a 
good-looking  fellow,  but,  what  was  better,  was  a  good  son,  having  taken  care  of  his 
widowed  mother  and  educated  his  sister  and  two  younger  brothers."  Miss  Smith 
was  attired  on  this  occasion  in  a  crimson-silk  dress,  thread-lace  ruffle  at  the  throat, 
embroidered-silk  stockings,  satin  slippers  the  same  color  as  her  dress.  Her  hair  was 
worn  in  three  puffs  on  the  top  of  the  head,  three  puffs  on  each  side,  and  a  high  tor- 
toise-shell comb. — "Biographical  sketch  of  Gov.  Duncan  by  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Julia  D.  Kii-by." 

+  It  is  now  occupied  by  his  son-in-law,  Judge  Edward  P.  Kirby. 


GOV.   JOSEPH   DUNCAN.  423 

thought,  excellent  judgment,  and  were  in  a  style  at  once  clear 
and  forcible.  Foreseeing  the  certain  ruinous  collapse  of  the 
internal-improvement  system,  he  steadily  argued  against  it,  and 
refused  to  be  drawn  into  its  support.  He  had  few  enemies,  and 
his  death,  which  occurred  at  his  home  in  Jacksonville,  Jan.  15, 
1844,  was  mourned  as  a  personal  bereavement  by  men  of  all 
parties. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

First  Democratic  State  Convention  —  Administration  of 
Gov.  Thomas  Carlin — Eleventh  General  Assembly — 
First  Whig-  State  Convention — Removal  of  the  Capital 
— Special  Session  at  Springfield— Repeal  of  Internal- 
Improvement  System — Presidential  Campaign  of  1840 
— Twelfth  General  Assembly — Reorganization  of  the 
Judiciary —  1838  -  1842. 

WHILE  the  excitement  relating  to  internal  improvements 
was  at  its  height,  the  period  recurred  for  the  quadrennial 
election  of  governor  and  lieutenant-governor.  The  first  regu- 
larly constituted  democratic  State  convention  for  the  nomi- 
nation of  these  officers  was  held  at  Vandalia,  Dec.  4,  1837,  at 
which  Col.  James  W.  Stephenson  was  nominated  for  governor 
and  John  L.  Hacker  for  lieutenant-governor.  Serious  charges 
being  made  against  Col.  Stephenson's  administration  of  the 
receivership  of  the  land -office,  he  was  induced  to  withdraw 
from  the  contest;  Mr.  Hacker  also  declined  his  nomination. 
The  convention  was  reconvened  June  6,  1838,  and  was  presided 
over  by  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing.  The  names  presented  for  governor 
were  Thomas  Carlin  and  Sidney  Breese;  Carlin  secured  the 
nomination;  while  that  for  lieutenant-governor  was  given  to 
Stinson  H.  Anderson  of  Jefferson  County,  who  had  served  with 
distinction  as  a  member  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  general  assem- 
blies. 

Thomas  Carlin  was  born  in  Kentucky,  of  Irish  parentage, 
July  18,  1789.  He  first  came  to  Illinois  in  1812,  and  served  as 
a  soldier  throughout  the  war  of  that  period.  In  18 18,  he 
removed  to  Greene  County  and  settled  upon  the  future  site  of 
Carrollton,  the  county-seat.  In  the  Black- Hawk  War,  he  com- 
manded a  company  and  distinguished  himself  as  a  brave  and 
efficient  officer.  He  was  the  first  sheriff  of  his  county,  had  been 
twice  elected  to  the  State  senate,  and  at  the  time  of  his  nomi- 
nation was  register  of  the  land-office  at  Ouincy.  He  had  been 
inured  to  the  life  of  a  backwoodsman,  and  never  had  an  oppor- 

424 


ELECTION   OF    1 838.  425 

tunity  to  receive  an  education,  except  such  as  he  made  for  him- 
self. Of  medium  height,  spare  form,  and  sandy  complexion,  he 
was  a  man  of  iron  nerve,  and  as  courageous  as  a  lion.  He  was  a 
splendid  horseman  and  marksman,  and  always  ready  for  a  fight. 
He  was  a  warm  admirer  and  consistent  follower  of  Gen.  Jackson, 
and  was  not  partial  to  Eastern  immigrants  unless  they  were 
democrats.  There  were  a  hundred  different  men  in  his  party 
better  fitted  for  the  office  of  governor  by  ability  and  education, 
but  none  on  the  score  of  high  character  and  unswerving  integ- 
rity—  and  it  was  the  possession  of  these  generally-recognized 
qualities  which  secured  his  success. 

Cyrus  Edwards  was  the  candidate  of  the  whigs,  but  not  as 
the  choice  of  a  State  convention.  He  was,  as  had  been  the 
custom,  first  mentioned  in  a  caucus  of  friends,  was  then  endorsed 
by  some  county  conventions,  and  taken  up  by  the  whig  news- 
papers as  their  candidate  by  general  consent  He  was  a  brother 
of  the  late  Gov.  Edwards,  had  served  acceptably  as  a  member 
of  both  houses  of  the  general  assembly,  and  was  respected  for 
his  ability  and  sterling  worth  throughout  the  State. 

Wm.  H.  Davidson  of  White  County,  who  had  served  many 
years  in  the  senate  and  was  president  of  that  body  in  1836-7, 
was  brought  out  in  the  same  way  as  the  whig  candidate  for 
lieutenant-governor. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense  interests  involved  under  the 
internal-improvement  system,  the  issues  presented  in  the  cam- 
paign were  generally  national  rather  than  local.  Both  candidates 
for  governor  were  understood  to  be  in  favor  of  the  system;, 
although  it  was  known  by  the  friends  of  Edwards  that  while 
he  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  internal  improvements,  he  was 
opposed  to  the  law  as  passed,  having  voted  for  it  reluctantly  and 
only  in  compliance  with  direct  instructions  from  his  constituents. 
In  some  counties,  indeed,  the  question  was  brought  prominently 
into  the  canvass,  as  for  instance  in  Morgan,  where  the  whig 
tickets  were  headed  "Anti-Subtreasury  Ticket.  For  a  sound 
specie  -  paying  National  Bank,  and  for  curtailing  the  Internal- 
Improvement  System."  The  democratic  ticket  had  at  its  head, 
"For  the  Subtreasury.  Against  a  National  Bank,  and  for  a 
vigorous  prosecution  and  final  completion  of  the  Internal- 
Improvement  System."     The  issues  were  clearly  defined. 


426  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

It  was  a  very  lively  campaign.  Joint  discussions  on  national 
questions  were  the  order  of  the  day — Douglas,  Lamborn,  John 
Calhoun,  and  Linder  on  one  side,  Baker,  Hardin,  Lincoln,  and 
Stuart  on  the  other,  were  constantly  in  the  field,  taking  the 
stump  as  they  followed  the  courts  from  one  point  to  another 
around  the  circuits.  The  contest  for  congress  in  the  third 
district  between  Douglas  and  Stuart  was  especially  exciting  and 
close,  the  latter  receiving  a  majority  of  only  14  votes.  The 
majority  for  Carlin  over  Edwards  was  996  —  the  nearest  the 
whigs  ever  came  to  carrying  the  State. 

The  eleventh  general  assembly  met  Dec.  3,  1838.  The  sen- 
ate was  composed  of  twenty-one  whigs,  sixteen  democrats,  and 
three  independents.  There  were  but  fifteen  new  senators,  among 
them  being  Wm.  A.  Richardson,  Wm.  J.  Gatewood,  Robert 
Blackwell,  and  Ebenezer  Peck  from  Cook,  who  having  resigned 
at  the  close  of  the  session  was  succeeded  by  James  H.  Wood- 
worth.  Browning,  Davidson,  Hacker,  Herndon,  Wm.  Thomas, 
and  Servant  were  among  the  old  members. 

In  the  house  there  were  forty-six  whigs,  forty  democrats,  and 
five  independents.  Among  the  old  members  were  Edward  D. 
Baker,  Milton  Carpenter,  Newton  Cloud,  Jesse  K.  Dubois, 
Ninian  W.  Edwards,  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  O.  B.  Ficklin,  John  J. 
Hardin,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Robert  Smith,  E.  B.  Webb,  and 
Archibald  Williams.  Among  the  new  were  Willis  Allen,  John 
Calhoun  from  Sangamon,  Augustus  C.  French,  Wm.  H.  Hen- 
derson—  father  of  Congressman  Thomas  J.,  John  Moore,  Wm. 
F.  Thornton,  and  Henry  L.  Webb. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  who  had  by  this  time  achieved  a  reputa- 
tion not  only  as  a  debater  but  as  a  watchful  and  successful  repre- 
sentative, was  the  candidate  of  the  whigs  for  speaker,  but  failed 
to  receive  the  full  vote  of  his  party.  When  the  balloting  began 
three  whigs,  for  some  reason  which  was  never  satisfactorily 
explained,  were  conveniently  absent,  while  four  of  those  who 
were  present  threw  away  their  votes  on  other  members.  Wm.  L. 
D.  Ewing  was  therefore  elected  on  the  fourth  ballot,  receiving 
forty-three  votes,  to  thirty-eight  cast  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  four 
scattering.  David  Prickett  was  for  the  fifth  time  elected  clerk 
of  the  house,  and  Benj.  Bond  chosen  secretary  of  the  senate. 

In  the  valedictory  message  of  Gov.  Duncan,  he  again  empha- 


ELEVENTH  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  427 

sized  his  opposition  to  the  internal  -  improvement  system, 
remarking  that  in  regard  to  its  impolicy  his  mind  had  under- 
gone no  change.  He  said:  "Experience  has  now  sufficiently 
shown  that  all  my  objections  to  it  must  in  time  be  fully  realized. 
*  *  That  there  should  have  been  many  mistakes  committed, 
and  much  waste  of  public  money  in  conducting  a  system  of 
internal  improvements  upon  so  large  a  scale,  in  a  country  almost 
entirely  destitute  of  skill  and  experience  in  such  works  was  to 
be  expected.  But  I  confess  they  have  occurred  to  an  extent 
never  anticipated  by  myself — and  whether  by  mistake  or  design 
it  is  very  manifest  that  large  sums  have  been  squandered  on 
objects  of  little  or  no  general  utility,  and  in  some  cases  to  the 
detriment  of  the  public  interest.  *  *  The  want  of  economy 
and  the  deleterious  effects  of  such  a  system  owned,  controlled, 
and  carried  on  by  the  State,  are  great  and  insurmountable 
objections  to  it,  but,  in  my  opinion,  not  so  great  as  the  powers 
it  confers  on  the  State  government,  through  its  numerous 
officers  and  dependents  to  influence  elections  and  legislation." 
He  therefore  again  recommended  that  all  such  works  be  left  to 
the  prosecution  of  individual  citizens  of  the  State,  or  to  corpo- 
rations created  by  law. 

The  governor  approvingly  referred  to  the  fact  that  work  on 
the  canal  had  progressed  rapidly,  expenditures  to  the  amount 
of  $1,400,000  having  been  made  the  preceding  year.  He  then, 
after  alluding  to  the  subject  of  national  politics,  for  the  first 
time  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  revenue  of  the  State, 
at  that  time  was,  and  for  a  number  of  years  had  been,  "alto- 
gether inadequate  to  its  expenditures." 

Three  days  after  the  delivery  of  this  valedictory  came  the 
inaugural  of  Gov.  Carlin.  The  era  of  personal  politics,  when  the 
incumbent  of  the  executive  chair  made  his  own  platform  and 
shaped  the  policy  of  his  own  administration,  had  passed  away. 
He  was  now  the  mouthpiece  of  his  party  and  was  required  to 
follow  that  course  which  its  leaders  marked  out  for  him.  The 
messages  of  the  governor  were  evidently  the  expression  of  the 
views  of  his  party  prepared  by  its  leaders,  to  suit  the  supposed 
exigency,  rather  than  his  own.  They  showed  on  their  face  the 
handiwork  of  different  authors;  in  some  places  the  style  being 
finished  and  elegant,  and  in  others  clumsy  and  ungrammatical, 
while  a  general  inconsistency  ran  through  the  whole. 


428  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

On  this  occasion  he  presented  a  glowing  picture  of  the 
increasing  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  State.  Regarding  the 
all-absorbing  question  of  internal  improvements,  he  presented  a 
view  quite  opposite  to  that  of  his  predecessor,  remarking  that 
"The  signal  success  which  has  attended  our  sister  states  in  the 
construction  of  their  extensive  systems  of  improvements  can 
leave  no  doubt  of  the  wise  policy  and  utility  of  such  works.  *  * 
In  the  principles  and  policy  of  this  plan,  contrasted  with  that 
of  joint -stock  companies  and  private  corporations,  I  entirely 
agree.  Had  I  occupied  my  present  situation  at  the  establish- 
ment of  this  system  I  would  have  recommended  its  adoption  on 
a  less  expensive  scale,  and  the  construction  of  the  most  impor- 
tant works  first.  Under  the  present  plan  of  proceeding,  however, 
near  two  millions  of  dollars  have  been  expended,  and  whatever 
diversity  of  opinion  may  now  exist  as  to  the  expediency  of  the 
system  as  originally  projected,  all  must  admit  that  the  character 
and  credit  of  the  State  forbid  its  abandonment."  He  concurred 
with  Gov.  Duncan  in  regard  to  the  construction  of  the  canal, 
but  joined  issue  with  him  on  all  questions  of  national  politics, 
especially  in  reference  to  a  national  bank,  the  re-creation  of 
which  he  strongly  opposed. 

The  legislature  agreed  with  the  incoming  governor  on  the 
question  of  internal  improvements,  and  with  the  outgoing 
governor  in  regard  to  banks.  All  efforts  to  repeal  or  modify 
the  internal-improvement  system  failed,  but  resolutions  in  favor 
of  the  expediency  and  constitutionality  of  a  national  bank 
were  adopted. 

Not  only  was  the  original  measure  not  repealed  but  an  addi- 
tional expenditure  of  $800,000  was  authorized  for  improvements 
of  water-ways  and  the  construction  of  railroads. 

A  large  portion  of  the  time  of  this  legislature  was  consumed 
in  the  discussion  of  questions  of  national,  rather  than  State, 
policy;  although  the  body  found  time  to  adopt  a  number  of 
important  measures  pertaining  to  State  affairs.  One  of  these 
was  a  proposition  introduced  by  Mr.  Lincoln  from  the  finance 
committee  that  the  State  should  purchase  all  the  public  lands 
therein,  estimated  at  20,000,000  acres,  at  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre,  "pledging  the  faith  of  the  State  to  carry  the  proposal  into 
effect  if  accepted  by  the  general  government." 


SALES   OF    BONDS.  429 

Among  the  laws  passed,  of  sufficient  general  interest  to  be 
noted,  were  the  following:  Making  the  first  appropriation  for 
a  library  for  the  supreme  court;  To  establish  the  "  Illinois  Asy- 
lum for  the  Education  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb";  To  incorporate 
the  Chicago  Lyceum;  Requiring  the  governor  to  reside  at  the 
seat  of  government;  To  prohibit  the  circulation  of  bank  notes 
of  a  denomination  less  than  five  dollars. 

This  was  the  last  session  of  the  general  assembly  held  at 
Vandalia,  which,  under  the  law  providing  for  the  removal  ol 
the  public  offices  to  Springfield,  ceased  to  be  the  capital  of  the 
State  after  July  4,  1839.     The  legislature  adjourned  March  4. 

In  the  meantime,  the  work  of  internal  improvements,  the 
letting  of  contracts  and  the  selling  of  bonds,  and  piling  up 
of  the  State  debt,  went  "bravely  on."  Ex-Gov.  Reynolds 
and  Senator  Young  were  appointed  agents  to  negotiate  state 
securities  both  in  the  United  States  and  Europe.  Neither  of 
these  gentlemen  possessed  that  knowledge  of  financial  affairs 
which  qualified  them  for  such  a  mission.  They  sold  and  deliv- 
ered in  New  York  three  hundred  bonds,  agreeing  to  accept 
payment  therefor  in  monthly  instalments — the  last  of  which  did 
not  fall  due  until  Jan.  15,  1840,  under  which  arrangement  tne 
interest  on  all  deferred  payments  was  lost.  One  thousand 
bonds,  representing  $1,000,000,  were  negotiated  with  Thomas 
Dunlap  of  Philadelphia,  payments  for  which  were  also  to  be 
made  in  instalments,  in  United-States  bank  notes,  which  before 
the  State  received  them  had  depreciated  ten  per  cent  —  by 
which  the  State  lost  not  only  the  interest  but  $100,000  besides. 
About  one  hundred  of  the  bonds  were  sold  on  credit  to  New- 
York  banks,  to  be  used  by  them  in  the  experiment  of  free 
banking,  about  to  be  put  on  trial  in  that  State.  Before  pay- 
ment for  these  had  been  made,  the  banks  failed,  thereby  entail- 
ing a  loss  on  Illinois,  not  only  of  the  unexpended  currency 
received,  but  also  of  the  amount  yet  due  on  instalments  not 
matured. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  these  blundering  negotiations  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  the  putative  financiers  embarked  for 
London,  taking  with  them  Gen.  Rawlings  and  Col.  Oakley,  two 
of  the  fund  commissioners,  to  see  what  they  could  accomplish 
there.      Finding   the    money   market   close,   the    State   agents 


43°  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

deposited  iooo  bonds  ($i, 000,000)  with  John  Wright  &  Co.  in 
London  and  authorized  them  to  sell  the  same.  They  sold 
about  half  the  bonds  for  £91  on  the  £100,  and  that  firm  having 
failed  before  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  by  them  had  been  paid 
over,  the  State  had  to  accept  the  same  dividend  as  other  credi- 
tors of  the  bankrupt  firm,  which  amounted  to  only  a  few  shillings 
in  the  pound. 

By  Dec.  1,  1839,  the  general  account  on  the  public  ledger 
presented  the  following  appalling  appearance: 

Bonds  sold  to  the  State  Bank  and  Bank  of  Illinois,  invested 
as  capital  therein  -  -         -         -       $2,665,000 

Internal-improvement  bonds  sold  in  United  States    3,187,000 
Internal-improvement  bonds  disposed  of  in  London   1,500,000 
Canal-bonds  sold  .._-__     3,400,000 

State-house  bonds  ------  128,000 

Due  to  the  school- and -seminary  fund  -         -        750,000 

Due  to  the  banks  for  auditor's  warrants    -         -  142,550 

Due  to  contractors  and  interest  on  loans       -         -     1,458,000 

Total     $13,230,550 

Early  in  the  fall  of  1839,  the  governor  became  alarmed  over 
the  expansion  of  state  credit  and  the  prospect  of  impending 
disaster.  The  people  also  began  to  move  and  to  express  their 
discontent  and  dissatisfaction  at  the  outlook  of  state  affairs,  in 
public  meetings,  which  were  held  in  fifteen  counties.  A  few- 
months  of  experience  in  the  executive  chair  had  wrought  an 
entire  change  of  opinion  in  the  governor's  mind,  and  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  public  credit  had  been  extended  to  exhaustion, 
and  the  state  debt  enlarged  to  such  enormous  proportions,  he 
determined  to  call  a  special  session  of  the  legislature,  to  con- 
sider the  grave  crisis.  "The  town  of  Springfield,"  now  the 
capital  of  the  State,  was  designated  as  the  place  of  meeting. 

The  commissioners  appointed  to  locate,  temporarily,  the 
county-seat  of  Sangamon  County  in  1821,  designated  the  same 
as  "a  certain  point  in  the  prairie,  near  John  Kelly's  field,  on  the 
waters  of  Spring  Creek,"  and  called  the  place  Springfield. 
When  the  proprietors,  Pascal  P.  Enos  and  Elijah  lies,  came  to 
plat  the  town  after  the  opening  of  the  land-office  in  1823,  they 
called  it  Calhoun,  after  the  distinguished  senator  of  that  name; 


THE    NEW   CAPITOL.  43  I 

but  this  appellation  being  as  objectionable  to  the  people  as 
the  first  one  was  to  the  proprietors,  the  former  insisted  upon 
calling  it  Springfield,  until  finally  the  name  of  Calhoun  was 
abandoned  and  the  former  one  restored. 

Being  the  distributing  point  for  a  large  section  of  rapidly- 
growing  territory,  and  having  no  rival  in  any  direction  within 
seventy  miles  for  the  first  few  years,  it  soon  filled  up  with  an 
enterprising  population  of  merchants,  mechanics,  and  traders. 
By  1830,  it  numbered  a  thousand  inhabitants,  which  number 
in  four  years  had  increased  to  1400,  making  it  the  largest  town 
in  the  State  except  Jacksonville,  which  claimed  1600. 

It  was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1832;  and  among  its  trustees 
from  that  period  until  it  was  organized  as  a  city  in  1840,  under 
a  special  charter,  were  Charles  R.  Matheny,  who  was  most  of 
the  time  president  of  the  board,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Samuel  H.  Treat,  Philip  C.  Latham,  and  Wm.  Butler. 
Its  selection  as  the  capital  of  the  State  added  largely  to  its 
growth  and  influence.  Among  other  festive  celebrations  in 
honor  of  the  event,  in  the  fall  of  1839,  a  "grand  ball"  was  given 
at  the  American  House,  to  which  invitations  were  sent  to  Chi- 
cago and  all  the  principal  towns  of  the  State  and  to  St.  Louis,, 
many  of  which  points  were  represented  on  the  occasion,, 
although  acceptance  involved  for  those  from  St.  Louis  a  stage 
ride  of  twenty-four  hours,  and  for  those  from  Chicago  a  week's 
time.  But  it  was  designed  to  be  a  grand  affair  which  was  to 
include  the  wit,  the  beauty,  and  fashion  of  the  entire  State. 
Among  the  managers  appear  the  names  of  A.  Lincoln,  S.  A. 
Douglas,  James  Shields,  N.  W.  Edwards,  J.  A.  McClernand, 
Nicholas  H.  Ridgely,  J.  F.  Speed,  E.  D.  Taylor,  W.  S.  Prentice, 
Isaac  R.  Diller,  and  Robert  Allen.  And  although  the  event 
occurred  half  a  century  ago,  Gen.  McClernand,  Hon.  N.  W. 
Edwards,  Col.  E.  D  Taylor,  Rev.  W.  S.  Prentice,  D.D.,  and 
Isaac  R.  Diller  still  survive  to  tell  the  tale. 

When  Springfield  became  the  capital  of  the  State  its  houses 
were  mostly  frame  and  poorly  constructed.  It  contained  but 
little  wealth,  and  many  of  its  citizens  found  themselves  greatly 
embarrassed  through  their  efforts  to  raise  the  $50,000  required 
under  the  law  toward  erecting  the  new  state-house.  Its  streets 
and  most  of  its  sidewalks  were  unpaved,  and   in  the  spring  and 


432  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

fall  its  normal  condition  was  that  of  unfathomable  mud.  In- 
deed, for  many  years,  it  was  far  from  being  an  inviting  city. 
Mr.  Lincoln  told  a  favorite  story  to  illustrate  this  point. 
Thompson  Campbell,  the  secretary  of  state,  who  had  the  care 
and  letting  of  the  assembly  chamber,  one  day  received  an 
application  from  a  meek- looking  man,  with  a  white  necktie, 
for  the  use  of  the  chamber  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures. 
"May  I  ask,"  said  the  secretary,  "what  is  to  be  the  subject 
of  your  lectures?"  "Certainly,"  was  the  reply,  with  a  very 
solemn  expression  of  countenance;  "it  is  on  the  second  com- 
ing of  our  Lord."  "It  is  of  no  use,"  said  Campbell,  "if  you 
will  take  my  advice  you  will  not  waste  your  time  in  this  city. 
It  is  my  private  opinion  that  if  the  Lord  has  been  in  Spring- 
field once,  he  will  not  come  the  second  timer 

But  its  citizens  possessed  enterprise  and  industry;  capital 
came  in;  manufactories  were  established;  railroads  developed  its 
splendid  coal-fields;  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  late  civil  war, 
with  the  gathering  of  troops  at  the  central  point,  the  establish- 
ment of  camps  and  depots  of  supplies,  it  entered  upon  an  un- 
broken era  of  prosperity.  In  1883,  a  system  of  street  pave- 
ments was  adopted,  the  transforming  effect  of  which  has  con- 
verted it  into  one  of  the  most  attractive  cities  of  the  West. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  state-house  was  laid  July  4,  1837, 
with  imposing  ceremonies,  an  eloquent  address  being  delivered 
by  Col.  E.  D.  Baker.  It  had  been  estimated  that  the  building 
would  cost  $130,000,  but  $240,000  was  expended  upon  it  before 
its  completion.*  It  was  not  ready  for  occupancy  at  the  time  of 
■the  called  session,  and  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church — a  new 
brick  building — was  secured  for  the  house,  the  Methodist  Church 
for  the  senate,  and  the  Protesant-Episcopal  Church  for  the 
supreme  court. 

*  The  capitol  occupied  the  centre  of  the  public  square,  nearly  three  acres  in  extent, 
and  was  constructed  of  cut-stone  brought  from  a  quarry  six  miles  distant.  It  was 
123  feet  in  length,  89  feet  in  width,  and  44  feet  high,  with  two  porticos  fronting  north 
and  south,  supported  by  massive  columns.  The  basement  was  divided  into  four 
large  rooms  for  offices,  for  fuel  and  storage,  and  a  fire-proof  vault.  A  spacious  hall 
32  feet  in  width  open  to  the  dome,  from  which  it  was  lighted,  extended  entirely 
across  the  first  story,  on  one  side  of  which  was  a  room  for  the  supreme  court  50  x  40 
feet,  two  rooms  23  x  1 7  feet  each ;  and  on  the  other  side  three  rooms  40  x  24  for 
library  and  offices,  16  feet  in  height.  The  second  story  contained  the  hall  of  the 
house  of  representatives,  on  the  west  side,  82  x  40  feet,  and  a  senate  chamber  across 
the  hall,  on  the  east  side  40  x  50  feet,  and  eleven  committee  rooms. 


A   CHANGE   OF    POLICY.  433 

The  governor  in  his  message  set  forth  the  reasons  which  had 
induced  him  to  reconvene  the  legislature.  He  stated  that  while 
he  had  been  in  favor  of  the  state  system  of  improvements,  he 
was  opposed  to  its  extent,  and  that  the  fatal  tendency  to  enlarge 
the  system  at  the  last  session  and  "the  ruinous  policy  of  simul- 
taneously commencing  all  the  works  and  constructing  them  in 
detached  parcels  was  alike  at  variance  with  the  principles  of 
sound  economy,  destructive  to  the  interests  of  the  State,  and  to 
the  system  in  all  its  parts."  He  therefore  recommended  a  modi- 
fication of  the  system,  and  the  completion  of  such  portions  of 
the  works  as  would  produce  a  revenue.  With  regard  to  the 
canal,  he  recommended  the  sale  of  additional  lands  to  an 
amount  sufficient  to  meet  the  liabilities  for  work  contracted,  and 
interest  on  the  debt. 

And  now  began  the  struggle  in  the  legislature  for  a  change 
of  state  policy.  Party  lines  were  effaced.  Those  who  still 
adhered  to  their  former  views  contended  that  to  abandon  the 
system  now  would  be  to  have  nothing  left  to  show  for  the  vast 
expenditures  already  made;  that  the  works  would  become 
useless  and  only  the  decaying  monuments  of  a  vacillating 
policy;  that  out  of  the  wreck  there  might  be  gathered  a  fund 
amounting  to  about  $1,500,000  which,  after  meeting  the  inter- 
est, would  yet  leave  a  sum  sufficient  to  complete  129  miles  of 
railroad  now  nearly  finished.  They  made  a  desperate  effort 
to  carry  their  point  but  without  avail.  A  sufficient  number  of 
their  former  allies  were  won  over  to  the  other  side  to  secure  the 
passage  of  laws  which  virtually  abrogated  the  entire  system. 

The  board  of  fund  commissioners  and  that  of  commissioners 
of  public  works  were  abolished.  A  single  fund  commissioner 
was  provided  for,  and  elected,  who  was  to  receive  and  take 
charge  of  the  railroad  iron  purchased  in  Europe,  to  receive  back 
and  destroy  all  unsold  bonds,  and  to  audit  and  settle  the 
accounts  of  the  late  boards. 

Provision  was  made  for  the  election  of  a  new  board  of  public 
works,  composed  of  three  commissioners,  who  were  authorized 
to  adjust  all  liabilities  under  the  internal-improvement  system. 
Only  those  engineers  and  agents  whose  services  were  required 
to  ascertain  the  amount  due  to  contractors  were  to  be  retained, 
and  even  these  were  to  be  discharged  as  soon  as  practicable. 
28 


434  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

Such  roads  as  were  completed  were  to  be  opened  and  managed 
by  the  board.  Richard  F.  Barrett  was  elected  fund  commis- 
sioner, and  Joseph  Bealle,  Hart  Fellows,  and  John  Hogan  com- 
missioners of  public  works. 

And  thus  came  to  a  disastrous  conclusion  in  this  State,  as  it 
had  in  others,  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  commonwealth  to 
carry  on  a  system  of  public  improvements. 

As  a  result  of  this  stupendous  scheme,  only  a  portion  of  one 
of  the  projected  improvements  was  completed,  namely,  the 
railroad  from  Meredosia  on  the  Illinois  River  to  Springfield,  a 
distance  of  fifty-one  miles.  This  was  done  after  the  expendi- 
ture of  another  $100,000  derived  from  the  sale  of  canal-bonds, 
and  the  road  finally  surrendered  to  the  State,  May  13,  1842. 
From  this  time,  it  was  leased  to  individuals  and  operated  gen- 
erally at  a  loss,  until  1845,  when  it  had  fallen  into  such  bad 
repair  that  it  was  practically  useless.  Its  one  locomotive  had 
been  run  off  the  track  and  abandoned.  Mules  were  then  sub- 
stituted for  steam  power  —  the  road  carrying  only  freight, 
passengers  preferring  to  go  by  wagon  or  stage.  Finally,  in 
pursuance  of  the  law  of  1847,  the  road  which  had  cost  the 
State  nearly  a  million  dollars  was  sold  at  public  auction,  and 
purchased  by  Nicholas  H.  Ridgely,  of  Springfield,  for  $21,100.* 

The  precipitate  rashness  attendant  upon  the  origination  of 
the  works  found  its  fitting  counterpart  in  the  undue  haste  and 
anxiety  displayed  in  the  disposition  of  the  property,  real  and 
personal,  left  from  the  general  ruin.     The  Northern-Cross  Rail- 

*  The  following  incident  occurred  at  the  sale.  Mr.  Ridgely  bid  $10,000,  and  the 
road  was  cried  for  that  sum  for  some  time — going,  going  at  $10,000,  until  he  began 
to  think  it  would  be  knocked  down  at  that  figure.  A  wealthy  speculator  by  the 
name  of  Col.  Johnson  who  heard  the  crying  of  the  sale  across  the  street  in  a  barber- 
shop where  he  was  undergoing  a  tonsorial  operation,  upon  being  informed  what  sale 
it  was,  started  to  his  feet  and  exclaimed  "  wipe  me  off  quick,  old  man,  and  I  will  go 
over  and  make  a  bid  myself. "  He  arrived  just  in  time  to  offer  a  hundred  dollars  more. 
Mr.  Ridgely  raised  his  bid  $1000.  Johnson  added  another  $100,  and  so  it  went  on 
for  some  time,  rather  monotonously  for  Mr.  Ridgely.  Finally  he  inquired  of  the 
colonel  if  he  was  bidding  for  himself  or  some  other  party.  He  replied  "for  parties 
in  St.  Louis,  who  have  agreed  to  pay  me  a  commission. "  Mr.  Ridgely  inquired, 
"would  you  not  as  soon  receive  a  commission  from  Springfield  as  St.  Louis?"  "Cer- 
tainly— that  is  satisfactory,"  said  Johnson;  and  he  walked  off.  The  road  was  accord- 
ingly struck  off  to  Mr.  Ridgely.  The  next  day  the  colonel  called  upon  him,  and, 
without  a  word  being  said  except  to  pass  politely  the  time  of  day,  received  a  check 
for  $1000,  for  his  commission. 


THE   FOLLY   OF   THE   SYSTEM.  435 

road,  had  the  State  retained  its  ownership  for  a  few  years,  would 
have  sold  for  twenty  times  the  amount  realized  from  this  sale. 
The  railroad  iron  hardly  brought  enough  to  pay  freightage ;  and 
the  42,000  acres  of  land  were  hurriedly  disposed  of  to  purchasers 
at  almost  nominal  prices.  There  still  remained  the  canal  and 
the  bank  stock,  while  those  counties  who  at  the  time  thought 
they  were  grievously  treated,  had  received  the  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  which  fell  to  their  lot  as  the  price  of  their 
support  of  the  system. 

That  a  body  of  law-makers  could  be  found  who  could  be 
induced  to  sanction  a  system  so  crude  in  inception,  so  extrava- 
gant in  dimensions,  so  impracticable  in  details,  and  so  chimerical 
in  its  aims,  is  only  another  illustration  of  the  remark  that 
"splendid  abilities  and  the  power  of  ingenious  speculation  are 
not  statesmanship."  Their  action  can  not  be  ascribed  to  any 
lack  of  earnest  conviction  or  genuine  integrity  of  purpose,  but 
rather  to  a  headlong  rashness  due  to  a  want  of  experience  in 
affairs.  Nevertheless,  as  a  clock  striking  in  advance  of  time 
only  anticipates  the  hour,  so  did  these  legislators,  by  but  a  few 
years,  antedate  the  progress  which  the  State  was  ultimately  to 
make  through  the  stimulus  imparted  to  the  development  of  its 
resources  by  railroads.  In  the  selection  of  routes  clear  fore- 
thought and  sound  judgment  were  shown,  all  of  the  lines  marked 
out  having  long  since,  through  private  enterprise,  become  im- 
portant and  successful  arteries  of  commerce.  And  it  may  be 
further  remarked  in  defence  of  their  gigantic  scheme,  that  it  is 
yet  a  moot  question  among  political  economists  whether  gov- 
ernmental ownership  and  operation  of  railroads,  as  in  some 
states  of  continental  Europe,  is  or  is  not  the  soundest  policy. 

Klinois,  however,  was  not  alone  in  the  financial  straight  to 
which  she  had  been  brought  by  the  ill-considered  legislation  of 
amateur  statesman.  The  other  states  of  the  northwest  suffered 
equally  from  the  same  cause  and  on  the  same  account;  the  debt 
of  Ohio  at  this  time  being  nearly  $15,000,000,  and  that  of 
Indiana  $14,000,000,  while  that  of  Michigan,  with  a  population 
of  only  212,276,  had  reached  the  sum  of  $6,000,000.  But,  as 
will  be  seen  hereafter,  Illinois  was  more  fortunate  than  the 
other  states  named,  in  the  fact  that  the  representatives  who 
were  among  the  most  active  in  promoting  her  scheme  of  inter- 


436  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

nal  improvements  more  than  compensated  for  the  bad  results 
which  flowed  from  it  by  securing  to  the  State,  largely  through 
their  own  efforts,  that  magnificent  grant  of  land  for  the  Illinois 
Central,  through  the  revenue  derived  from  which  railway  the 
State  has  more  than  redressed  all  her  losses. 

When  the  people  awoke  from  their  dream  of  fancied  prosper- 
ity to  find  themselves  staggering  under  the  burdens  of  a 
colossal  public  debt — when  they  saw  their  hopes  shattered  and 
their  resources  likely  to  be  drained  by  a  necessary  but  unparal- 
leled taxation,  they  looked  back  upon  their  former  infatuation 
with  a  sort  of  incredulous  amazement. 

Having  become  involved  in  this  difficulty,  the  question  which 
next  presented  itself  was  how  to  extricate  the  State,  with  credit 
and  honor,  from  the  embarrassment  incident  to  the  creation  of 
such  an  enormous  debt,  which  will  be  considered  in  the  proper 
place. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  interests  of  the  people, 
material  and  political,  were  most  intimately  connected  with 
questions  of  State  policy,  the  election  of*  1840  was  conducted 
wholly  upon  national  issues. 

Following  the  historical  line  thus  indicated,  the  attitude  of 
political  parties  at  this  time,  naturally,  next  claims  attention. 

The  opposition  to  the  democracy  having  learned  through 
•defeat  the  advantages  consequent  upon  that  partisan  cohesion 
resulting  from  intelligent  organization,  decided  to  emulate  the 
•example  of  their  party  foes.  Accordingly,  at  the  suggestion  of 
leading  papers,  the  first  whig  State  convention  was  convoked 
at  Springfield  on  Monday,  Oct.  7,  1839,  t0  effect  an  organiza- 
tion and  to  name  delegates  to  the  national  convention,  already 
called  to  meet  in  December  at  Harrisburg.  Delegates  were 
present  from  thirty  counties.  Edward  D.  Baker  was  appointed 
the pro-tem,  and  Wm.  Moore  the  permanent  president.  A  State 
central  committee  was  appointed,  composed  of  A.  G.  Henry, 
Richard  F.  Barrett,  E.  D.  Baker,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  J.  F. 
Speed.  The  delegates  selected  to  the  national  convention  were 
George  W.  Ralph,  Ezra  Baker,  Wm.  B.  Warren,  Wm.  A.  Min- 
shall,  and  Walter  L.  Newberry  of  Cook.  Presidental  electors 
were  named  as  follows:  at  large,  Cyrus  Walker  and  Buckner  S. 
Morris;   1st  district,  Samuel  D.  Marshall;  2d  district,  Edwin  B. 


HARD    CIDER    CAMPAIGN    OF    184O.  43/ 

Webb;  3d  district,  A.  Lincoln.  The  convention  was  said  to  be 
"the  largest  and  most  intelligent  ever  convened  in  the  State," 
and  was  conducted  with  great  harmony  and  spirit. 

The  whies  nominated  Gen.  Harrison  as  their  candidate  for 
president  and  John  Tyler  for  vice-president,  at  Harrisburg, 
Dec.  4,  1839,  but  adopted  no  platform  of  principles  whatever, 
making  the  general  issue  in  the  campaign  opposition  to  the 
democratic  administration. 

Martin  Van  Buren  was  unanimously  renominated  as  the 
candidate  of  the  democrats  at  Baltimore,  May  5,  1840.  No 
candidate  for  vice-president  was  put  in  nomination,  on  account 
of  the  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  "proper  man  for  that  office" 
tne  convention  resolving  "to  leave  the  decision  to  their  republi- 
can fellow-citizens  of  the  several  states." 

The  democrats  adopted  a  platform  of  negations — these  were, 
Opposition  to  internal  improvements  by  the  general  government 
—against  assuming  the  debts  of  the  several  states  contracted 
for  local  or  state  purposes — against  the  fostering  of  one  branch 
o1  industry  to  the  detriment  of  another — against  the  power  of 
congress  to  charter  a  United-States  bank — against  governmental 
interference  with  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  several  states. 
They  were,  however,  in  favor  of  "practising  the  most  rigid 
economy"  in  conducting  public  affairs,  and  of  those  liberal 
Jeffersonian  principles  "which  make  ours  the  land  of  liberty 
and  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  of  every  nation." 

The  leading  issues  before  the  people  may  be  briefly  summar- 
ized: a  United-States  bank  versus  a  subtreasury — a  protective 
tariff  versus  free-trade — economy  in  the  national  administration. 
The  latter  formed  the  popular  war-cry  of  the  whigs,  who  did  not 
fail  to  call  attention  to  the  "hard  times"  which  they  attributed 
directly  to  the  adoption  of  democratic  measures. 

The  well-remembered  "hard-cider"  and  "log-cabin"  campaign 
followed.  The  use  of  these  terms  had  their  origin  in  a  sneering 
remark  in  a  democratic  paper  to  the  effect  that  "give  old  Harri- 
son plenty  of  hard  cider  and  he  would  be  content  to  live  in  a 
log-cabin  all  his  days."  What  was  thus  intended  as  a  slur  was 
taken  up  by  the  whigs  as  their  catch-word  and  war-cry.  Log- 
cabins  and  barrels  of  cider,  some  of  which  were  exceedingly 
hard,  thenceforth  formed  the  prominent  features  of  every  meet- 
ing and  procession. 


438  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

No  regular  army  was  ever  better  organized,  equipped,  or 
drilled,  than  the  contending  hosts  on  either  side.  The  whigs 
had  never  elected  a  president,  and  being  for  the  first  time  united 
under  one  banner,  with  bright  prospects  of  success,  a  wonderful 
enthusiasm  pervaded  their  ranks,  such  as  the  democrats  were  not 
able  to  arouse.  They  held  meetings,  extraordinary  as  regards 
both  members  and  interest,  all  over  the  country.  One  of  these, 
which,  perhaps,  exceeded  all  others,  was  held  at  Springfield  in 
June.  The  people  came  from  all  portions  of  the  State;  in 
wagons,  on  horseback,  and  on  foot,  bringing  their  provisions 
with  them  and  camping.  The  prairies  for  a  week  previous  to 
the  meeting  were  covered  with  excited  crowds,  drinking  hard 
cider,  riding  in  their  log-cabins  built  on  wheels,  and  singing 
campaign  songs,  a  specimen  of  which  is  as  follows: 

"Let  Frenchmen  drink  claret  and  sweet  muscadine, 
And  Germans  drink  hock  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine; 
But  give  me  to  quaff,  with  friends  warm  and  true, 
A  gourd  of  hard  cider  to  old  Tippecanoe. 

In  the  White  House  VanBuren  may  drink  his  champagne 
And  have  himself  toasted  from  Georgia  to  Maine — 
But  we  in  log-cabins,  with  hearts  warm  and  true 
Drink  a  gourd  of  hard  cider  to  old  Tippecanoe." 

Twenty  thousand  people,  nearly  five  per  cent  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  State,  attended  this  meeting,  among  whom 
was  a  delegation  from  Chicago,  of  whose  members  Charles 
Cleaver,  Thomas  B.  Carter,  and  Stephen  F.  Gale  are  still  living. 
Securing  fourteen  of  the  best  teams  available,  and  four  tents, 
they  captured  the  government  yawl,  which  they  rigged  up  as  a 
two-masted  ship  and  placed  on  a  strong  wagon  drawn  by  six 
fine  grey  horses.  Thus  equipped,  with  four  sailors  on  board,  a 
band  of  music,  and  a  six-pounder  cannon  to  fire  salutes,  with 
Captain,  afterward  Maj.-Gen.  David  Hunter  in  command  as 
chief-marshal,  they  started  with  flying  colors  on  their  journey. 
It  was  an  exciting  and  ever-to-be-remembered  expedition.  At 
Joliet,  which  they  reached  on  the  evening  of  the  second  day 
out,  their  progress  was  opposed  by  a  mob  of  roughs  and  labor- 
ers on  the  canal;  but  the  advancing  force,  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand, having  drawn   their  pistols,  it  was  deemed   advisable  to 


TWELFTH   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  439 

permit  them  to  proceed.  They  were  seven  days  making  the 
trip.  Their  vessel  was  a  wonder  to  the  inhabitants  along  the 
route,  many  of  whom  had  never  seen  anything  of  the  kind. 
At  Springfield  it  divided  the  attention  of  the  masses  with  a 
huge  log- cabin,  twelve  by  sixteen  feet,  constructed  on  an 
immense  truck  whose  wheels  were  made  of  solid  wood,  cut 
from  a  large  tree.  The  latter  was  drawn  by  thirty  yoke  of 
oxen;  a  couple  of  coons  were  playing  in  the  branches  of  a 
hickory  sapling  at  one  corner;  and  a  barrel  of  hard  cider  stood 
by  the  door,  whose  latch-string  was  hanging  out.  The  brig 
was  presented  to  the  whigs  of  Sangamon  County,  in  an  able 
speech,  by  William  Stuart  of  the  Chicago  American;  in  return 
for  which  the  Chicago  delegation  was  presented  with  a  live 
gray  eagle,  in  an  eloquent  address  by  E.  D.  Baker,  at  the  critical 
portion  of  which,  when  he  described  the  eagle's  broad  flight  as 
emblematic  of  the  election  of  Harrison,  the  "noble  bird"  re- 
sponded to  the  sentiment  by  rearing  his  head,  expanding  his 
wings,  and  giving  a  loud  cry.  The  applause  of  the  immense 
crowd  was  correspondingly  wild  and  enthusiastic.  The  entire 
trip  consumed  three  weeks'  time,  but  was  enjoyed  by  the  party 
from  first  to  last. 

These  tactics  of  the  whigs  were  met  by  large  mass  meetings 
of  the  democrats,  who  claimed  to  be  "the  poor  man's  party,"  at 
which  hickory  clubs  and  poles,  emblems  of  fealty  to  Gen.  Jack- 
son, were  the  prominent  features. 

The  whigs  elected  the  president,  but  failed  to  carry  Illinois — 
the  majority  in  favor  of  VanBuren  being  1939.  The  foreign 
vote  along  the  canal  in  Cook  and  LaSalle  counties  and  in  St. 
Clair,  more  than  turned  the  scale.  The  democrats  also  succeeded 
in  electing  a  large  majority  of  the  twelfth  general  assembly; 
the  senate  standing  26  democrats  and  14  whigs;  the  house,  51 
democrats  and  40  whigs. 

The  familar  names  of  Baker,  Richardson,  Gatewood,  Moore, 
Hacker,  and  Snyder  again  appear  in  the  senate,  and  those  of 
Lincoln,  Hardin,  McClernand,  Archer,  Carpenter,  Ewing,  Peck, 
Dougherty,  Edwards,  Webb,  and  Minshall  in  the  house.  There 
were  also  found  for  the  first  time,  in  the  latter  body,  the  names 
of  Lyman  Trumbull,  Wm.  H.  Bissell,  Thomas  Drummond, 
Joseph  Gillespie,  and   David   M.  Woodson,  and  in  the   senate 


440  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

that  of  Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick,  John  Moore,  and  Richard  M. 
Cullom. 

The  candidates  for  speaker  of  the  house  were  the  same  as  in 
1838 — Ewing  and  Lincoln,  the  former  receiving  46  votes  and 
the  latter  36,  the  absentees  on  either  side  being  about  the  same. 
John  Calhoun,  who  failed  of  election  as  member  from  the  strong 
whig  county  of  Sangamon,  was  elected  clerk  of  the  house,  and 
Wm.  C.  Murphy,  doorkeeper;  Merrett  L.  Covell  was  chosen 
secretary  of  the  senate,  and  Andrew  J.  Witt  sergeant-at-arms. 

The  legislature  was  convened  by  the  governor,  Nov.  23,  1840, 
two  weeks  in  advance  of  the  regular  session,  in  order  to  make 
timely  provision  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  public  debt, 
falling  due  January  1.  The  debt  had  been  increased  since  the 
last  session  by  the  issuing  of  canal-scrip  and  advances  by  the 
bank,  and  was  stated  by  him  at  this  time  to  be  as  follows: 

The  expenditures  on  the  different  objects  of  improvement 
had  been  as  follows: 

Central  Railroad $536,440 

Northern-Cross  Railroad    -  952,960 

Other  lines  of  railroad            -  1,000,489 

Rivers  and  other  improvements           -  -       135,914 

Paid  to  counties     -  147,000 

Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal        -  2,788,683 

Total  amount  of  expenditures         -       $5,561,486 

Internal-improvements  -  $5,345,000 

Bank  stock         ---...    2,665,000 
Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal  -         -         3,950,000 

School -fund      ----__       807.585 
Surplus  revenue,  warrants,  etc.        -         -  876,016 

Total  amount  of  liabilities  -         $13,643,601 

Less  amount  of  surplus  revenues  and 

bonds  sold,  not  paid  for        -         -  1,336,419 

Total  -  $12,307,182 

Amount  of  annual  interest  thereon  -  732,430 

The  governor,  in  his  message,  set  forth  clearly  and  fairly  the 


THE  BANKS  AND  THE  ADJOURNMENT.        44 1 

embarrassing  situation,  admitting  the  extravagance  and  error 
which  had  resulted  in  entailing  upon  the  people  the  system  of 
internal  improvements,  but  insisted  that  "it  would  be  unwise 
and  unpatriotic  to  shrink  from  the  responsibility  of  applying 
the  best  efforts  of  the  legislators  to  the  pecuniary  redemption 
of  the  State,  and  the  preservation  of  her  honor" — that  although 
there  could  be  but  one  opinion  that  the  money  for  which  the 
debt  had  been  incurred  had  been  injudiciously  appropriated, 
"still  virtue  and  patriotism,  a  high  sense  of  honor  and  justice, 
imperiously  forbid  delinquency  in  its  payment."  In  his  opinion, 
while  further  operations  on  the  public  works  were  not  justified 
by  the  condition  of  the  state  finances,  means  should  be  used 
to  continue  the  work  on  the  canal. 

It  soon  became  apparent  that,  excepting  when  bank  questions 
were  involved,  the  lines  dividing  the  members  politically  were 
not  to  be  observed  in  regard  to  state  policy.  Notwithstanding 
the  waste,  impracticability,  and  extravagance  of  the  internal- 
improvement  system  there  were  not  wanting  those  who  were  in 
favor  of  its  resuscitation  to  a  certain  extent.  They  argued  that 
the  errors  of  mismanagement,  private  speculation,  and  corrup- 
tion, which  had  been  committed,  ought  not  to  be  charged 
against  the  plan — that  such  were  the  geographical  situation  and 
natural  resources  of  the  State,  while  the  system  was  cumber- 
some, entirely  to  abandon  it  would  be  unwise,  if  not  suicidal. 
They  therefore  insisted  that  the  best  policy  to  be  pursued  was 
to  complete  the  Northern  Cross  and  Central  railroads.  On  the 
other  hand  not  only  was  a  large  party  opposed  to  doing  any 
more  work,  but  a  few  even  favored  repudiation. 

Entering  into  the  controversy,  as  always  heretofore,  were 
questions  relating  to  state  banks,  in  which  the  State  was  a  large 
stockholder.  They  had  again  suspended  specie  payment  and  as 
the  law  of  1838  provided  that  such  suspension  could  not  con- 
tinue beyond  the  end  of  the  next  session,  when  this  legislature 
adjourned,  the  banks  would  be  compelled  to  resume  or  close 
their  doors.  The  democrats  claimed  that  the  called  was  a 
special  session;  the  whigs  that  the  two  sessions  only  made  one, 
and  endeavored  to  prevent  a  sine-die  adjournment  by  absenting 
themselves;  but  in  this  they  failed  and  the  democrats  were 
jubilant  over  their  success. 


442  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The  late  Judge  Gillespie  and  Abraham  Lincoln  were  selected 
to  manage  the  contest  in  the  house  on  the  part  of  the  whigs — 
two  of  whom  were  required  to  be  present  to  demand  the  ayes 
and  noes.  Perceiving  that  a  number  of  whigs  had  permitted 
themselves  to  be  brought  in  to  make  a  quorum  if  the  managers 
remained,  requesting  two  of  those  who  had  come  in  to  call  for 
the  ayes  and  noes,  Lincoln  and  Gillespie  concluded  to  withdraw. 
Ascertaining  that  the  doors  were  locked,  they  raised  the  wind- 
ows of  the  church  in  which  the  session  was  held,  and  jumped 
to  the  ground.     A  quorum  was  obtained,  nevertheless. 

If  all  the  whigs  had  met  the  sergeant-at-arms  as  did  Cyrus 
Edwards,  there  would  have  been  no  sine-die  adjournment. 
That  officer  reported  to  the  speaker  that  he  had  commanded 
Cyrus  Edwards  to  attend  in  his  place.  "What  did  he  say," 
inquired  the  speaker?  "He  said  he  would  not."  '-What  did 
you  say?"  "I  told  him  I  would  take  him  by  force."  "What 
did  he  then  do?"  "He  raised  his  cane  and  said,  'touch  me  at 
your  peril!'"     "What  did  you  then  do?"    "I  sloped,  sir!" 

The  whigs  were  successful,  however,  after  all ;  for  at  the  regu- 
lar session,  which  convened  December  7 — the  Monday  following 
the  adjournment  on  Saturday — a  further  power  of  suspension 
was  granted  to  the  banks,  and  they  were  also  authorized  to  issue 
small  notes,  a  privilege  which  had  been  refused  at  the  previous 
session. 

The  following  measures  were  adopted  relating  to  the  payment 
of  interest  and  to  internal  improvements: 

1.  The  fund  commissioner  was  authorized  to  hypothecate  in- 
ternal-improvement bonds  to  the  amount  of  $300,000  to  pay 
the  interest  legally  due  January  1.  The  liability  of  the  State  to 
pay  the  interest  on  bonds  which  had  been  sold  on  a  credit,  and 
some  of  which  had  not  been  paid  for,  was  strongly  contested, 
but  the  difficulty  was  avoided  by  leaving  the  question  to  the 
discretion  of  the  commissioner. 

2.  For  the  issue  of  interest  bonds  to  be  sold  in  the  market 
for  what  they  would  bring,  to  pay  interest  on  that  portion  of 
the  State  debt,  to  meet  which  there  were  no  other  funds. 

3.  For  an  additional  tax  of  ten  cents  on  the  one  hundred 
dollars,  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  latter 
class  of  bonds. 


THE   PARTY   VERSUS   THE    SUPREME   COURT.  443 

4.  An  appropriation  of  $100,000  to  complete  the  Northern- 
Cross  Railroad  from  Jacksonville  to  Springfield. 

The  interest  maturing  in  January  was  paid  as  first  above 
provided,  and  that  due  in  July  by  the  hypothecation,  sale  being 
found  to  be  impossible,  of  $804,000  of  interest  bonds  to  Macal- 
lister  and  Stebbins,  upon  which  was  advanced  only  $261,500. 

While  in  the  passage  of  the  local  measures  relating  to  im- 
provements, taxes,  and  the  payment  of  interest,  party  lines 
were  not  drawn,  the  resentments  engendered  by  the  late  stormy 
presidential  contest  were  still  bitter  and  deep  seated.  The 
democrats,  who  felt  deeply  their  loss  of  the  control  of  national 
affairs,  determined  to  make  the  most  of  their  supremacy  in  the 
State,  and  looked  with  a  jealous  eye  upon  the  supreme  court, 
which  was  composed  of  three  whigs  and  one  democrat.  A  pre- 
text to  change  its  political  complexion  was  not  wanting.  Its 
decision  in  one  case  and  its  failure  to  decide  in  another,  in  both 
of  which  the  party  was  directly  interested,  had  been  exceedingly 
obnoxious.  The  former  of  these  was  in  regard  to  the  office  of 
secretary  of  state,  which  had  been  continuously  held  by  Alex- 
ander P.  Field,  now  a  whig  but  formerly  a  strong  Jackson  man, 
since  1828.  Upon  his  election,  Gov.  Carlin  nominated  John  A. 
McClernand  to  the  office,  whom  the  senate  refused  to  confirm. 
The  governor  sent  in  no  other  nomination,  but  after  the  legisla- 
ture adjourned,  appointed  and  commissioned  McClernand  to  the 
position.  The  latter  made  a  formal  demand  for  the  office,  and 
its  surrender  being  refused,  sued  out  a  writ  of  quo  warranto 
before  Judge  Breese,  who  upon  the  hearing  decided  in  his  favor. 
Field  appealed  the  case  to  the  supreme  court,  where  it  was  ably 
argued  on  his  behalf  by  Cyrus  Walker,  Justin  Butterfield,  and 
Levi  Davis,  and  for  the  appellee  by  S.  A.  Douglas,  Jas.  Shields, 
and  the  attorney-general,  Wickliffe  Kitchell. 

The  decision  of  the  court  below  was  reversed — Judges  Wil- 
son and  Lockwood  concurring  in  favor  of  the  appellant,  Judge 
Smith  dissenting,  and  Judge  Browne  not  sitting  in  the  case 
because  of  relationship  to  McClernand.  The  court  decided 
that  the  power  of  removal  did  not  exist  under  the  constitu- 
tion —  that  when  that  instrument  created  an  office  without 
defining  its  tenure,  the  incumbent  held  during  good  behavior. 
The  decision  was  very  unpalatable  to  the  democrats,  who  con- 


444  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

tended  that  it  established  the  odious  doctrine  of  life-offices; 
and  it  was  used  with  telling  effect  against  the  whigs  at  the 
ensuing  election.  The  former  availed  themselves  of  the  first 
opportunity  offering  itself  to  override,  and  virtually  to  reverse, 
the  decision  of  the  supreme  court  by  promptly  confirming 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  whose  nomination  as  secretary  of  state 
was  among  the  first  official  acts  of  the  governor  after  the 
assembling  of  the  called  session,  on  Nov.  30.  Mr.  Douglas, 
however,  only  held  the  position  until  February  27,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Lyman  Trumbull,  who  was  confirmed  by  a 
vote  of  22  to  14. 

The   other   question    as   to   which    the   action    of  the  whig 
supreme  court  had  given  great  offence  arose  out  of  the  exercise 
of  the  elective  franchise  under  the  following  provision  of  the 
constitution  of  18 18 — "All  white   male  inhabitants  above   the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  having  resided  in  the  State  six  months 
next  preceding  the  election,  shall  enjoy  the  right  of  an  elector." 
It  was  the  opinion  of  many  leading  whigs   that   the   right  of 
suffrage  was  limited  to  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
the  courts  would  so  decide.     There  were  at  this  time  about  ten 
thousand    foreigners   in    the   State,   nine-tenths   of  whom    had 
allied   themselves   with   the   democratic   party.     Their  vote   at 
the  election   of   1840   might   not   only  determine  the  political 
contest  for  the  control  of  the  State,  but  possibly  for  that  of  the 
United   States.     To  retain   their  support  on  the  one  hand  or 
eliminate  it  on  the  other  had  therefore  become  a  question  of 
vital  importance  to  both  parties.     To  bring  it  to  an  issue  an 
agreed  case  was  made  at  Galena,  in  which  Judge  Dan  Stone 
decided  against  the  right  of  aliens  to  vote.     It  was  carried  to 
the  supreme  court,  where  it  was  heard  in  December,  1839,  ar>d 
continued  to  the  June  term,   1840,  at  which   time  the  excite- 
ment and  turmoil  of  the  presidential  election  was  at  its  zenith. 
If,  as  was  feared  by  the  democrats,  the  case  should  be  decided 
adversely  to  the  right  of  aliens  to  vote,  they  would  unquestion- 
ably lose  the  State.     Judge  Smith,  however,  who  had  discov- 
ered a  serious  defect  in  the  record,  in  which,  instead  of  1838, 
the  year  1839  had  been  alleged  as  that  in  which  the  general 
election  occurred,  communicated  the  fact  to  counsel,  who  suc- 
ceeded, by  showing  this  error,  in  continuing  the  case  to  the 


CHANGE   OF   THE  JUDICIARY.  445 

December  term,  which  would  carry  it  beyond  the  presidential 
election. 

The  democrats,  however,  were  by  this  time  determined  to  run 
no  further  risk  of  what  they  termed  political  decisions  against 
them  by  the  supreme  court,  and  on  December  10,  Senator  Adam 
W.  Snyder  introduced  a  bill  to  reorganize  the  judiciary,  by 
which  the  judges  of  the  circuit  court  were  to  be  legislated  out 
of  office  and  provision  made  for  the  appointment  by  the  legis- 
lature of  five  additional  associate  justices  of  the  supreme  court, 
who,  together  with  the  four  existing  members,  should  hold  the 
circuit  courts. 

In  the  meantime,  the  supreme  court  had  decided  the  case,  in 
which  it  was  found  that  under  the  record  the  constitutional 
question  was  not  involved,  but  merely  one  of  construction  under 
the  election  law  of  1829. 

It  was  alleged,  however,  that  this  decision  had  been  rendered 
in  order  to  mislead  the  dominant  party  as  to  the  ultimate 
result  of  the  litigation  and  with  a  view  to  affect  pending  legisla- 
tive action  regarding  the  judiciary.  It  was  even  charged  on 
no  less  authority  than  that  of  Judge  Smith,  that  the  majority 
of  the  court  had  already  written  out  opinions  against  the  right 
of  aliens  to  vote  when  the  error  in  the  record  was  discovered 
by  him  in  June.  This,  however,  was  summarily  denied  by  the 
judges  in  a  published  statement,  in  which  Judge  Smith  was 
ultimately  forced  to  join.  The  discussion  of  the  bill  continued 
with  great  bitterness  for  several  weeks,  its  passage  being  opposed 
not  only  by  the  whigs  but  by  *a  few  democrats  as  well,  and 
especially  by  the  friends  of  the  incumbent  circuit-judges.  The 
most  of  the  judges,  however,  were  won  over  by  promises  of 
reelection. 

The  measure  finally  passed,  and  was  returned  by  th?  council 
of  revision  with  their  objections,  but  was  reenacted  by  the  bare 
majority,  however,  of  one  vote  in  the  house.  Gov.  Ford,  though 
he  owed  to  it  his  election  to  the  supreme  bench,  characterizes 
the  action  of  the  general  assembly  as  "a  confessedly  violent  and 
somewhat  revolutionary  measure,  which  could  never  have  suc- 
ceeded except  in  times  of  great  party  excitement." 

The  five  additional  judges  elected  were  Thomas  Ford,  Sidney 
Breese,  Walter  B.  Scates,  Samuel  H.  Treat,  and  Stephen  A. 


446  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

Douglas,  all  democrats,  and  all  of  whom  except  the  latter  had 
previously  occupied  the  position. 

The  State  was  also  redistricted  under  the  census  of  1840, 
provision  being  made  for  the  election  of  41  senators  and  121 
representatives. 

For  the  first  time  the  party  in  power  at  this  session  desig- 
nated its  choice  for  United-States  senator  in  caucus,  without,  as 
heretofore,  running  any  risk  of  the  selection  of  an  objectionable 
candidate  by  a  promiscuous  ballot.  Samuel  McRoberts  secured 
the  caucus  nomination  and  was  elected  at  the  joint  session, 
December  16,  by  a  vote  of  yy  to  50,  the  minority  voting  for 
Cyrus  Edwards. 

Judge  McRoberts  was  a  native  Illinoisan,  having  been  born 
in  Monroe  County,  April  12,  1799.  He  had  been  judge  of  the 
circuit  court,  a  member  of  the  State  senate  in  1828-9,  U.-S. 
district -attorney,  and  receiver  of  public  moneys  at  Danville. 
He  only  lived  to  serve  two  years  of  his  term,  dying  March  22, 

1843. 

This  was  a  remarkably  turbulent  as  well  as  belligerent  session 
of  the  legislature.  It  might  well  be  termed,  also,  the  protesting 
session.  Leading  democrats  protested  against  the  passage  of 
the  banking  law,  nearly  all  the  whigs  protested  against  the  law 
reorganizing  the  judiciary — while  leading  whigs  and  democrats 
alike  protested  against  the  passage  of  the  act  regulating  the 
sale  of  property  levied  on  by  execution. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Administration  of  Governor  Ford  —  Thirteenth  General 
Assembly— Election  of  U.-S.  Senator  and  State  Officers 
— Bank  and  Public-Debt  Measures  —  State  Finances — 
Election  of  1844  —  Fourteenth  General  Assembly  — 
Senatorial  Election  —  Laws  —  Illinois  -  and  -  Michigan 
Canal. 

THE  nomination  of  Thomas  Ford  as  a  candidate  for  gover- 
nor in  1842,  was  as  unexpected  as  the  honor  was  unsought. 
The  democratic  State  convention  which  met  in  Springfield, 
Dec.  13,  1841,  had  selected  Adam  W.  Snyder  as  the  candidate 
for  governor  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote.  John  Moore  was  at 
the  same  time  nominated  for  lieutenant-governor  on  the  fifth 
ballot,  his  opponent  having  been  William  A.  Richardson. 

Ex-Gov.  Duncan,  in  the  spring  of  1842,  by  general  consent, 
and  without  the  calling  of  a  convention,  became  the  candidate 
of  the  whigs  for  governor,  and  Wm.  H.  Henderson*  of  Putnam 
County,  for  lieutenant-governor. 

At  this  time,  and  for  some  years  thereafter,  the  attitude  of 
the  Mormons  toward  the  State  government  occupied  a  large 
space  in  the  public  mind.  They  controlled  a  considerable 
number  of  votes,  and  neither  party  was  averse  to  securing  their 
support.  Col.  Snyder  had  been  particularly  active  in  the  legis- 
lature in  obtaining  the  granting  of  certain  charters  conferring 
upon  the  Mormon  organization  at  Nauvoo  extraordinary  powers, 
under  which  city  ordinances  had  been  adopted  practically  setting 
the  State  government  at  defiance.  Although  some  whigs  had 
also  voted  for  the  passage  of  these  charters,  Judge  Douglas  had 
successfully  exerted  his  influence  to  induce  Joseph  Smith,  the 
Mormon  prophet  and  leader,  to  issue  a  proclamation  exhorting 
his  adherents  to  support  Snyder. 

*  He  was  a  native  of  Garrard  County,  Ky.,  where  he  was  born,  Nov.  16,  1793. 
Having  served  in  the  War  of  181 2,  he  removed  to  Tennessee  in  1813,  where  he 
filled  many  responsible  positions,  among  them  a  seat  in  the  state  senate.  He 
removed  to  Illinois  in  1836,  and  was  a  popular  leader,  and  representative  in  the 
legislature  for  many  years,  from  the  counties  of  Bureau,  Putnam,  and  Stark.  He 
became  a  citizen  of  Iowa  in  1845,  where  he  died,  January  27,  1864. 

447 


448  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The  arrogance  and  encroachments  of  the  Mormons  began  to 
arouse  public  indignation  against  them,  and  they  became  ex- 
ceedingly obnoxious  to  the  people.  Ex-Gov.  Duncan  was 
quick  to  perceive  his  opportunity,  and  to  bring  this  question 
prominently  forward  in  his  canvass  as  one  of  the  leading  issues 
of  the  campaign.  It  would  undoubtedly  have  proved  an 
effective  point  against  his  opponent;  but  while  the  tide  seemed 
to  be  turning  in  Duncan's  favor,  death  stepped  in  and  removed 
Col.  Snyder  from  the  field.  The  democratic  convention  was 
again  called  together  in  June,  when  Judge  Ford  received  the 
nomination.  The  objection  that  he  had  been  a  Mormon  cham- 
pion could  not  be  urged  against  him.  He  had  never  been  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  nor  very  closely  connected  with  the 
political  managers  —  then  generally  called  the  Springfield 
regency  —  of  his  party.  He  had  been  twice  appointed  state's 
attorney,  and  four  times  elected  judge  by  the  almost  unani- 
mous voice  of  the  legislature;  and  at  the  time  of  his  nomination 
for  governor  was  engaged  in  the  active  performance  of  his 
judicial  duties  as  a  member  of  the  supreme  bench,  holding 
circuit-court  in  Ogle  County.  He  was  then  forty-two  years  of 
age,  having  been  born  in  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  in  1800. 
None  of  the  objections  which  it  was  feared  might  prove  fatal 
to  the  candidacy  of  Col.  Snyder  could  be  urged  against  Ford, 
and  the  democrats  were  successful  in  carrying  the  State  by  the 
largest  majority  they  had  yet  received — the  vote  standing  for 
Ford  46,901,  for  Duncan  38,584.  For  lieutenant-governor. 
Moore  received  45,567  votes,  and  Henderson  38,426. 

Gov.  Ford,  with  his  half-brother  George  Forquer,  had  been  a 
resident  of  the  State  since  childhood.  His  widowed  mother,  a 
woman  of  heroic  character,  whose  husband,  Robert  Ford,  had 
been  killed  by  the  Indians,  removed  from  Pennsylvania  at 
first  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  but  soon  after,  in  1805, 
to  Monroe  County,  Illinois.  The  governor  was  low  in  stature 
and  slender  in  person,  with  thin  features,  deep-set  grey  eyes,  and 
an  aquiline  nose  which  had  a  twist  to  one  side. 

Though  small  physically  he  was  large  mentally.  Unlike  the 
most  of  his  predecessors  he  was  noted  neither  for  athletic 
accomplishments  nor  for  military  achievements,  although  he 
served   creditably  in  the  Black- Hawk  War.     He  had  studied 


THE  THIRTEENTH   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  449 

law  thoroughly  under  Daniel  P.  Cook,  and  to  excel  as  a  lawyer 
had  been  his  highest  ambition,  to  attain  which  end  he  had 
devoted  all  his  time  and  talents.  As  a  judge  his  decisions  were 
noted  for  their  justice  and  impartiality.  He  had  never  aspired 
to  distinction  as  a  public  speaker,  nor  did  he  possess  those 
qualities  which  render  a  candidate  personally  popular.  In  fact, 
if  left  to  secure  his  own  elevation  by  the  stereotyped  methods 
of  politicians,  he  would  never  have  been  the  choice  of  his  party 
for  governor,  nor,  indeed,  for  any  other  elective  office. 

A  better  selection,  in  many  respects,  for  the  welfare  of  the 
State  at  this  critical  juncture  in  its  history  could  not  have 
been  made.  While  his  experience  on  the  bench  had  not  quali- 
fied him  for  that  contact  with  politicians  and  the  management 
of  public  men  which  is  so  essential  to  personal  success,  and 
while  he  possessed  strong  prejudices,  was  obstinate,  and  resent- 
ful of  opposition,  especially  when  it  came  from  his  own  political 
household,  his  native  integrity,  mental  calibre,  and  sound  judg- 
ment enabled  him  both  to  perceive  and  grasp  the  dangers  with 
which  the  State  was  threatened  from  repudiation,  and  to  suggest 
those  measures  which  placed  its  credit  and  good  name  beyond 
question  or  reproach. 

Lieut.-Gov.  John  Moore  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  but  a 
thorough  American  by  adoption.  He  had  resided  in  the  State 
since  1830,  and  had  been  twice  elected  to  the  lower  and  once 
to  the  upper  branch  of  the  general  assembly.* 

The  legislature  elected  in  1842,  which  convened  December  5, 
was  overwhelmingly  democratic  in  both  houses  —  the  senate 
standing  28  democrats  to  14  whigs;  the  house,  81  democrats  to 
5J  whigs.  Samuel  Hackelton  was  elected  speaker,  the  whigs 
giving  a  complimentary  vote  to  O.  H.  Browning,  who  was 
serving  his  first  and  only  term  as  a  representative. 

The  selection  of  Col.  W.  L.  D.  Evving  as  clerk  of  the  house 
afforded  a  striking  illustration  of  the  ups  and  downs  of  political 

*  Near  the  close  of  his  term,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War,  Lieut.-Gov. 
Moore  was  active  in  the  organization  of  the  Fourth  Illinois  Regiment,  of  which  he 
was  elected  lieutenant  -  colonel,  and  with  which  he  bravely  and  honorably  served 
during  the  war.  In  1848,  he  was  appointed  state  treasurer  vice  Milton  Carpenter 
deceased,  and  in  1850  was  elected  to  that  office,  which  he  continued  to  fill  with 
acknowledged  fidelity  until  1857.  He  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  Sept.  8,  1793,  and 
died  Sept.  23,  1863. 

29 


450  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

preferment.  He  had  been  twice  speaker  of  that  body,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United-States  and  State  senates,  and  as  president  of 
the  latter  body  had  succeeded  to  gubernatorial  honors;  and 
now  once  more  returned  to  the  foot  of  the  political  ladder  from 
which  he  had  started  on  his  upward  ascent  sixteen  years  before. 

Wm.  C.  Murphy  was  again  elected  door-keeper.  Isaac  S. 
Berry  became  secretary  of  the  senate  and  Iram  Nye  sergeant- 
at-arms. 

Col.  Baker  was  again  in  the  senate  and  also  Kilpatrick,  Cul- 
lom,  Ralston,  and  Slocumb;  besides  Joel  A.  Matteson,  Alfred 
W.  Cavarly,  and  John  Dougherty,  for  the  first  time.  Jesse  K. 
Dubois  entered  the  house  for  the  fifth  time,  while  among  others 
who  had  previously  served  in  one  or  both  houses  were  to  be 
found  Cloud,  Ficklin,  McClernand,  and  Woodworth.  Of  those 
who  answered  to  their  names  for  the  first  time  in  the  house  and 
were  afterward  heard  from  in  congress  or  served  in  other  distin- 
guished positions  were  Richard  Yates,  Andrew  J.  Kuykendall, 
Isaac  N.  Arnold,  David  L.  Gregg,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Alexander 
Starne,  Julius  Manning,  William  Pickering,  Horatio  M.  Vande- 
veer,  and  Gustavus  Koerner. 

With  each  recurring  session  of  the  legislature  came  hordes  of 
applicants  for  office  in  alarmingly  increasing  numbers.  Besides 
the  election  of  a  United-States  senator,  which  had  occurred  at 
nearly  every  session,  there  were  generally  vacant  places  on  the 
bench  to  be  filled,  state  officers  and  state's  attorneys  to  be 
elected,  as  well  as  officers  of  the  house  and  subordinate  posi- 
tions within  the  gift  of  the  general  assembly.  Many  as  were 
the  places  to  be  filled,  the  applicants,  with  the  voracity  of 
cormorants,  outnumbered  them  ten  to  one — indeed,  it  was  said 
that  at  one  session  there  were  a  hundred  applicants  for  the 
offices  of  sergeant-at-arms  and  door-keeper  alone!  * 

Great  as  was  the  importance  of  the  lately  elected  member  as 
gauged  by  the  profusion  of  compliments  heaped  upon  him  by 
seekers  of  office,  it  was  now  much  enhanced  by  the  reflection 
that  he  was  to  occupy  a  seat  in  and  become  identified  with  that 
splendid  structure  lately  completed  as  a  state-house.  He  esti- 
mated his  value  at  a  higher  rate  than  formerly,  and  his  self- 
complacency  was  not  to  be  so  easily  disturbed.     He  liked  as 

*  Ford's  "Illinois,"  205. 


THE   FINANCIAL   DEPRESSION    OF    1841.  45  I 

well  to  be  courted  as  ever,  but  he  wanted  the  approaching  can- 
didate to  realize  the  distance  between  them. 

As  was  the  custom  under  the  old  constitution,  both  the  retir- 
ing and  incoming  governor  presented  "full  fledged"  messages 
to  the  general  assembly;  and  although  both  were  democrats 
there  was  as  wide  a  divergence  in  statement  and  measures 
recommended  for  adoption  as  if  they  had  been  of  different 
political  parties.  Carlin's  message  was  not  only  inconsistent 
with  his  former  ones,  but  even  with  itself. 

The  absorbing  topic  of  the  day  was  the  magnitude  of  the 
public  debt,  and  the  most  important  question  before  the  legisla- 
ture was  the  devising  and  adoption  of  satisfactory  measures  to 
meet  the  already  overdue  interest  thereon. 

Ever  since  the  abandonment  of  the  internal- improvement 
system,  and  consequent  cessation  of  operations  on  the  various 
public  works,  the  State  had  been  passing  through  a  remarkable 
period  of  financial  depression.  Individual  enterprise  had  been 
paralyzed,  and  all  improvements  undertaken  on  private  account 
had  been  discontinued.  "The  channels  of  trade  had  been 
obstructed,  and  the  vitality  of  business  seemed  almost  extinct." 
To  add  to  the  accumulating  public  distress  the  State  Bank  in 
February,  1842,  followed  by  the  Shawneetown  bank  in  June, 
"exploded  with  a  great  crash."  The  paper  of  these  institutions 
— over  $3,000,000  of  which  was  in  circulation,  and  which  had 
before  been  at  a  discount  of  12  to  15  per  cent — soon  depreci- 
ated until  it  was  worth  only  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  tide 
of  immigration  ceased  to  flow  into  the  State,  and  there  could 
hardly  be  found  sufficient  money  to  pay  taxes.  Produce  could 
not  be  sold  for  cash  at  any  price,  and  was  valuable  to  the  owner 
only  as  a  sort  of  circulating  medium  available  in  trade.  The 
following  were  the  "market  prices"  in  central  Illinois  for  leading 
articles,  namely:  wheat  40  to  50  cents  per  bushel,  corn  10  to  12, 
pork  $1.50  per  hundred.  It  required  forty  pounds  of  butter 
(selling  at  from  5  to  8  cents  per  pound)  to  buy  the  farmer's  wife 
a  calico  dress  of  eight  yards — the  usual  size  of  the  pattern  at 
that  time  —  the  price  being  from  18^  to  S7/4  cents  per  yard; 
twenty-five  dozen  of  eggs  would  only  purchase  one  dollar's 
worth  of  coffee,  five  pounds.  Ten  bushels  of  corn  would 
scarcely  outweigh  in  value  eight  pounds  of  sugar,  and  the  hog 


452  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

had  to  be  a  large  one  that  would  liquidate  the  price  of  a  pair  of 
boots. 

Everything  was  sold  on  a  long  credit,  generally  understood 
to  be  twelve  months,  unless  otherwise  specified,  and  the  mer- 
chant who  could  not  command  sufficient  capital  or  credit  to 
carry  his  stock  of  goods  a  year  had  to  go  out  of  business. 
Everybody  was  in  debt,  and  there  was  only  "produce"  to  pay 
with,  at  these  starvation  prices.  The  newspapers  were  filled 
with  notices  of  bankruptcy  and  of  sales  by  trustees  and  sheriffs. 
Such  was  the  financial  condition  of  the  people,  who  found  them- 
selves confronted  with  the  necessity  of  meeting  obligations, 
public  and  private,  apparently  overwhelming. 

Although  it  had  been  intended,  and  with  some  confidence 
expected,  that  the  measures  adopted  at  the  last  session  would 
provide  a  sufficient  sum  to  meet  accruing  interest  until  the 
meeting  of  the  present  general  assembly,  they  had  entirely 
failed  to  produce  that  result.  The  actual  current  revenue, 
owing  to  the  low  valuations  of  property,  was  not  half  the 
amount  counted  upon,  and  such  had  been  the  depreciation  of 
State  securities  that  it  was  not  thought  advisable  to  place  any 
of  them  on  the  market  after  July,  1841,  to  which  time  only 
interest  had  been  paid. 

The  message  of  Gov.  Carlin  was  delivered  Dec.  7,  and  that 
of  his  successor  on  the  day  following.  Owing  to  the  lack  of 
any  proper  system  in  keeping  State  accounts,  they  differed  in 
their  statements  of  the  amount  of  the  State  debt,  excluding 
estimates  of  interest  due,  $1,350,969,  Gov.  Ford's  being  the 
larger,  and  neither  correct.  The  following  table  shows  the 
amount  as  given  by  each  governor  and  the  true  sum  as  sub- 
sequently ascertained  and  reported  by  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  from 
the  House  Committee  on  Finance: 

CARLIN.  FORD.  COMMITTEE. 

To  banks  for  stock      -      $2,665,000  $2,665,000  $2,665,000 

Internal  improvements         5,614,197  6,014,749  6,014,749 

Canal-debt           -         -        4,338,907  4,436,408  4,504,160 

State-house     -                          116,000  121,000  121,000 

School,  col.,  and  sem.  funds  808,085  808,084  808,084 

Due  State  Bank,  advanced    294,190  294,190 

Due  Bank  of  Illinois       -  369,998 


gov.  carlin's  valedictory  message.  453 

Due  for  surplus  revenue  (counted  twice)    477,919 

$13,836,379     $15,187,348     $14,112,993 
Add  amount  due  banks  not  included  by  committee  664,188 

14,777,181 
Interest  due  January  1,  1843         -  880,769 

Total  debt  and  interest  due  January  1,  1843       $15,657,950 

Gov.  Carlin  and  his  advisers  had  evidently  grappled  with  the 
problem  presented  to  them  with  unsatisfactory  results.  A 
review  of  the  State's  resources  in  view  of  the  financial  strin- 
gency convinced  him,  humiliating  as  the  admission  was,  to  use 
his  own  words,  "that  neither  from  taxation  nor  any  other  source" 
could  any  provision  be  made  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the 
State  debt.  Such  was  the  unpopularity  of  the  raising  of  money 
for  this  purpose  by  taxation,  he  felt  compelled  to  recommend 
that  further  efforts  in  that  direction  be  abandoned. 

In  the  draft  of  his  message  which  he  had  read  to  Gov.  Ford, 
he  recommended  the  adoption  of  legislation  conciliatory  and 
favorable  to  the  banks.  It  also  contained  a  paragraph  in  which 
he  urged  the  repeal  of  bank  charters,  but  this  he  informed  his 
successor  he  had  decided  not  to  include  therein.  But  the  press- 
ure of  party  leaders  overcame  his  convictions,  and  very  much 
to  the  surprise  and  embarrassment  of  Gov.  Ford  the  message 
was  delivered  as  it  had  been  originally  prepared,  recommending 
repeal. 

Under  the  act  of  congress  of  1841,  distributing  the  proceeds 
of  the  public  lands  among  the  several  states,  the  share  of 
Illinois  was  $46,289.  As  this  was  an  anti-democratic  measure, 
Gov.  Carlin  argued  against  its  acceptance  by  Illinois  —  the 
example  of  other  states  being  cited  as  a  precedent — notwith- 
standing its  need  of  funds.  But  at  the  same  time  he  com- 
mended the  action  of  congress  in  donating,  by  the  provisions 
of  the  same  law,  public  lands  to  certain  states — the  portion 
of  Illinois  being  210,135  acres.  That  is,  it  was  "just  and 
proper"  for  the  United  States  to  give  away  her  lands,  but 
not  the  money  arising  from  their  sale.  Gov.  Carlin  was  even 
desirous  of  receiving  still  further  donations  from  congress  to 
aid  in  the  completion  of  the  canal;  and  while  he  could  see  no 


454  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

means  at  hand  which  could  be  applied  to  this  work,  he  was 
opposed  to  its  entire  abandonment. 

Gov.  Ford  had  been  elected  as  the  democratic  candidate,  on 
the  supposition  that  not  having  been  in  any  sense  a  party  leader 
he  would  acquiesce  in  the  new  doctrine  of  "measures  not  men," 
and  be  willing  to  subject  himself  to  the  dictation  of  party  cau- 
cuses. But,  as  the  leaders  soon  discovered,  the  governor  had  a 
policy  of  his  own,  and  while  he  was  not  unwilling  to  consult 
with  them  on  all  suitable  occasions,  whenever,  as  frequently 
happened,  they  undertook  to  outline  the  course  which  they 
required  him  to  pursue,  whether  he  considered  it  best  or  not, 
he  very  coolly  informed  them  that  he  believed  the  returns 
showed  the  fact  that  he  had  been  elected  governor.  His  inau- 
gural message  was  consequently  his  own  production,  and  ex- 
pressed his  own  views,  which  he  persistently  maintained.  Taking 
strong  ground  in  favor  of  paying  every  dollar  of  the  State  debt, 
including  interest,  after  showing  the  inability  of  the  State  to  meet 
its  obligations  through  violent  and  spasmodic  exertions  to  raise 
money  by  taxation,  and  the  sacrifices  which  would  inevitably 
have  to  be  made  by  attempting  to  realize  any  considerable  sums 
from  the  sale  of  its  lands  and  other  property,  he  recommended 
that  the  legislature  should  in  some  appropriate  manner  assure 
our  creditors  that  in  due  time  funds  should  be  raised  by  moder- 
ate taxation  to  pay  its  debts  in  full,  and  that  the  disgrace  of 
repudiation  was  not  countenanced  by  the  people.  As  a  further 
evidence  of  our  sincerity  he  proposed  to  offer  to  our  creditors, 
at  fair  and  reasonable  prices,  the  lands  donated  to  the  State  by 
the  general  government,  and  the  railroads  finished  and  unfin- 
ished, with  their  appurtenances. 

He  also  recommended  that  means  should  be  adopted  to 
complete  the  canal  on  a  smaller  and  more  economical  plan; 
and  that  the  banks  should  be  required  to  resume  specie  pay- 
ments, or  that  failing  therein,  proper  steps  be  taken  to  wind 
them  up,  and  that  especially  some  arrangement  should  be  made 
with  them  for  the  exchange  of  the  stock  owned  by  the  State 
for  the  bonds  held  by  the  banks. 

The  condition  of  the  State  finances  at  this  time,  while  no 
worse  than  it  had  been,  was  bad  enough.  The  ordinary  expenses 
of  the  government  were  $170,000  per  annum,  and  its  ordinary 


ELECTION   OF   UNITED-STATES   SENATOR.  455 

receipts  only  a  little  over  $140,000 — the  State  having  by  this 
time  incurred  an  indebtedness  on  this  account  alone  of  $313,000. 
Auditor's  warrants  were  selling  at  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar,  State- 
bonds  brought  but  fourteen  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  there  was 
not  enough  ready  cash  in  the  treasury  to  pay  the  postage 
account  of  the  executive  department,  for  which  the  postmaster 
refused  to  grant  credit  to  the  State. 

Public  men  of  all  parties  stood  appalled  by  the  financial 
problems  which  confronted  them.  No  one  could  foresee  what 
would  be  the  popular  or  the  most  advisable  solution.  The 
two  great  political  parties  were  watching  each  other  with  eager 
eyes,  hoping  to  make  capital  and  command  success  out  of  the 
mistakes  of  each  other.  At  the  democratic  State  convention 
in  June,  a  resolution  against  repudiation  was  laid  on  the  table; 
and  such  was  the  uncertainty  of  action  and  lack  of  fixedness  of 
purpose,  that  there  is  no  doubt  that  Gov.  Ford  was  correct  in 
saying  that  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  make  Illinois  a  repudiating 
State  —  at  least  for  the  time  being.  Fortunately  for  the  good 
name  and  prosperity  of  the  commonwealth  he  had  no  such 
wish  or  intention. 

Preliminary,  however,  to  entering  upon  the  consideration 
of  measures  relating  to  State  policy  was  the  settlement  of  the 
contest  for  a  United  -  States  senator  to  succeed  Judge  Young. 
This  was  brought  to  an  issue  in  the  democratic  caucus  Dec.  9, 
— the  candidates  being  Judges  Breese,  Douglas,  and  Young, 
and  Mr.  McClernand.  After  a  stormy  session,  lasting  from 
seven  o'clock  p.m.  until  one  o'clock  a.m.,  Judge  Breese  was 
successful  on  the  nineteenth  ballot,  by  the  narrow  margin  of  one 
majority,  he  receiving  56  votes,  Douglas  52,  and  McClernand  3. 
He  was  elected  in  joint  session  December  18  by  a  strictly 
party  vote  —  the  whigs  supporting  Archibald  Williams  —  and 
the  ballot  standing  108  to  49,  with  three  scattering. 

Sidney  Breese  was  born  in  Whitesborough,  Oneida  County, 
New  York,  July  15,  1800,  and  graduated  from  Union  College 
in  1 8 18.  Soon  afterward  he  immigrated  to  Illinois,  arriving  at 
Kaskaskia,  December  24  of  that  year,  where  he  read  law  with 
E.  K.  Kane.  Previously  to  his  election  as  senator  he  had  served 
as  postmaster  at  Kaskaskia,  as  state's  attorney,  (1822-27),  as 
United-States  district-attorney,  appointed  by  President  Adams, 


456  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

as  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Black- Hawk  War,  and  as  a  judge 
of  the  circuit  and  supreme  courts.  He  had  been  also  an 
unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  legislature  and  congress.  He 
was  married  at  Kaskaskia  in  1823,  to  Eliza,  daughter  of  William 
Morrison.  He  was  a  close  student,  and  had  evinced  conspicu- 
ous ability  as  a  lawyer  and  judge. 

The  legislative  election  for  state  officers  and  judges  occurred 
on  Jan.  14,  1843,  and  resulted  as  follows:  James  Shields  auditor 
of  public  accounts,  Milton  Carpenter  treasurer,  James  Semple — 
vice  Sidney  Breese  elected  United  -  States  senator,  Richard  M. 
Young — vice  Theophilus  W.  Smith  resigned,  and  John  M.  Rob- 
inson— vice  Thomas  Ford  elected  governor,  as  members  of  the 
supreme  court. 

The  attention  of  the  law- makers  was  also  turned  aside  from 
the  great  business  before  them  by  the  consideration  of  a  peti- 
tion from  Jo  Daviess  County  praying  for  the  removal  of  Judge 
Thomas  C.  Browne  "  for  the  want  of  capacity  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  his  office."  A  week's  time  was  consumed  by  the 
supporters  of  the  petition  in  a  fruitless  effort,  the  charges  and 
specifications  against  the  judge  being  finally  dismissed  by  a 
nearly  unanimous  vote.  Although  a  whig  he  was  able  to  com- 
mand very  strong  support  from  leading  democrats,  who  re- 
garded the  attack  upon  him  as  a  persecution  set  on  foot  by 
disappointed  attorneys. 

The  work  of  the  session  now  began  in  earnest,  and  after  a 
thorough  discussion  of  the  various  financial  measures  proposed 
relating  to  the  bank,  canal,  the  State  debt,  and  the  payment  of 
interest,  the  following  were  adopted: 

1.  The  passage  of  the  compromise  bill  drawn  by  the  gov- 
ernor, requiring  the  State  Bank  to  go  into  liquidation,  and  for 
the  surrender  of  State-bonds  to  the  amount  of  $2,050,000  in 
exchange  for  the  same  amount  of  bank  stock  to  be  delivered 
up  by  the  State.  A  similar  law  was  passed  relating  to  the 
Bank  of  Illinois  at  Shawneetown,  and  providing  for  the  surren- 
der of  State  indebtedness  to  the  amount  of  one  million  dollars. 

2.  An  act  for  the  completion  of  the  canal  and  the  payment 
of  the  canal-debt;  by  which  the  governor  was  authorized  to 
negotiate  a  loan  of  $1,600,000  on  the  credit  of  the  canal,  its 
tolls,  revenue,  and  lands. 


RELIEF   MEASURES   AND   LAWS.  457 

3.  An  act  providing  for  the  acceptance  of  the  distributive 
share  of  the  State  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands, 
the  opposition  of  Gov.  Carlin  and  other  democrats  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

4.  For  the  redemption  of  the  bonds  amounting  to  $913,215 
hypothecated  with  Macallister  and  Stebbins  as  a  pledge  for  the 
$261,500  advanced  by  them  to  pay  interest. 

5.  Appointing  the  governor  fund  commissioner  and  author- 
izing that  officer,  together  with  the  auditor,  to  collect,  have 
appraised,  and  sell  at  public  auction,  the  railroads  and  other 
property  belonging  to  the  State. 

6.  Providing  for  a  tax  of  twenty  cents  on  one  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  property,  to  be  collected  in  gold  or  silver;  and, 
finally,  a  resolution,  which  fully  recognized  the  moral  and  legal 
obligation  of  the  State  to  discharge  "punctually  every  debt 
contracted  by  any  authorized  agent  for  a  good  and  valuable 
consideration  and  that  the  revenues  and  resources  of  the  State 
shall  be  appropriated  for  that  purpose  so  soon  as  they  can  be 
made  available." 

Other  laws  of  general  interest  were  passed  at  this  session  as 
follows : 

To  re-district  the  State  into  seven  congressional  districts. 

An  act  to  establish  a  system  for  the  registration  of  births 
and  deaths. 

An  act  making  the  secretary  of  state  librarian,  and  pro- 
viding for  the  use  and  care  of  the  books,  which,  in  its  principal 
features,  has  been  continued  in  all  the  revised  statutes  to  the 
present  time. 

An  act  regulating  the  sale  of  property  on  judgments  and 
executions,  providing  for  the  appraisement  of  property  levied 
on,  and  that  it  should  not  be  sold  unless  two  -  thirds  of  the 
appraised  value  was  bid  therefor. 

Companies  were  chartered  to  complete  the  Central  and 
Northern-Cross  railroads,  but  the  incorporators  failing  to  com- 
ply with  the  terms  imposed  by  the  State,  the  same  became 
inoperative. 

By  the  adoption  of  the  financial  measures  above  enumerated 
the  State  debt  on  account  of  the  banks  was  reduced  $3,050,000. 
As  a  further  result,  auditor's  warrants  soon  came  to  be  worth 


45"  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

ninety  cents,  and  State-bonds  40  to  45  cents  on  the  dollar. 
The  banks  in  liquidation  gradually  retired  their  depreciated 
circulation,  replacing  it  with  specie  and  currency  of  solvent 
banks. 

The  relations  between  Gov.  Ford  and  Lyman  Trumbull, 
secretary  of  state,  had  been  unfriendly  for  some  time,  owing  to 
a  difference  of  opinion  on  certain  executive  measures;  and  on 
March  4,  Thompson  Campbell  was  nominated  to  the  senate  as 
his  successor.  Mr.  Trumbull,  while  looked  upon  by  the  whigs 
as  a  strong  partisan,  was  also  regarded  by  them,  and  indeed 
generally,  as  an  "able,  efficient,  and  obliging"  officer.  Accord- 
ingly the  governor  found  it  difficult  to  secure  the  confirma- 
tion of  his  nominee.  At  first,  indeed,  he  was  rejected,  but 
upon  a  reconsideration  of  the  vote  he  was  confirmed  by  barely 
one  majority — 20  to  19.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  action 
•of  the  governor  had  reached  the  house,  Mr.  McClernand,  the 
democratic  leader  of  that  body,  as  a  salve  to  the  political 
wounds  which  had  been  inflicted,  introduced  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions, which  were  agreed  to  without  opposition,  recognizing  the 
right  of  each  governor  to  nominate  a  secretary  of  state  and 
his  power  to  remove  him  from  office;  and  tendering  the  thanks 
of  the  house  to  "His  Excellency,  Governor  Thomas  Ford,"  and 
Lyman  Trumbull,  secretary  of  state,  and  the  other  State  officers 
""for  their  efficient,  zealous,  and  patriotic  efforts  to  promote  the 
honor  and  interests  of  the  State  and  people." 

On  the  same  day,  March  4,  Gen.  W.  L.  D.  Ewing  was  in 
joint  session  elected  auditor  in  the  place  of  James  Shields, 
resigned.     The  session  adjourned  March  6. 

The  whig  national  convention  which  assembled  at  Baltimore, 
May  1,  1844,  nominated  Henry  Clay  as  a  candidate  for  presi- 
dent by  acclamation.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  was  nominated 
for  vice-president.  At  the  democratic  convention  which  met  in 
the  same  city,  May  27,  James  K.  Polk  received  the  nomination 
on  the  ninth  ballot  for  president,  and  Silas  Wright  for  vice- 
president.  The  latter  having  declined  the  honor,  George  M. 
Dallas  was  subsequently  selected  for  that  position.  James  G. 
Birney  and  Thomas  Morris  were  the  candidates  for  president 
and  vice-president,  respectively,  of  the  liberals  or  abolitionists, 
nominated  at  Buffalo,  Aug.  30,  1843. 


THE   FOURTEENTH   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  459 

The  democrats  achieved  their  greatest  national  victory  in 
their  defeat  of  "Harry  of  the  West,"  and  again  carried  the 
State  of  Illinois  by  a  largely  increased  majority,  that  for  Mr. 
Polk  being  12,290.  The  fourteenth  general  assembly  convened 
December  2.  The  senate  stood  26  democrats  to  15  whigs — 
in  the  house  the  democrats  numbered  80  and  the  whigs  39. 
Ninian  W.  Edwards  and  E.  B.  Webb,  formerly  of  the  house, 
now  appeared  in  the  senate,  as  did  Norman  B.  Judd,  Joel  A. 
Matteson,  Michael  Ryan,  Robert  Boal,  Willis  Allen,  and  John 
D.  Whiteside.  In  the  house,  Arnold,  Churchill,  Stephen  T. 
Logan,  Manning,  Gregg,  S.  G.  Hicks,  Kuykendall,  Pickering, 
Richardson,  Starne,  and  Yates  were  again  returned,  and  for  the 
first  time,  George  W.  Armstrong,  .David  Davis,  Anson  S. 
Miller,  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  Lewis  W.  Ross,  Francis  C.  Sherman, 
W.  S.  Wilkinson,  and  N.  D.  Strong. 

Wm.  A.  Richardson  was  elected  speaker,  receiving  73  votes 
to  U  cast  for  Stephen  T.  Logan;  Newton  Cloud  clerk  of  the 
house;  Merritt  L.  Covell  secretary  of  the  senate,  and  Wm.  C. 
Murphy,  for  the  third  time,  sergeant-at-arms. 

Mr.  Richardson  had  previously  served  in  both  houses  of  the 
legislature,  and  being  fitted  by  experience  as  well  as  natural 
aptitude,  filled  the  office  of  speaker  with  distinguished  honor 
and  credit. 

United-States  Senator  Samuel  McRoberts  having  died  March 
2J,  1843,  James  Semple  was  appointed  in  his  place  from  the 
supreme  court,  August  16.  He  received  the  democratic  caucus 
nomination,  and  was  duly  elected  in  joint  session  December  n, 
to  fill  out  the  term,  receiving  100  votes  to  47  cast  for  John  J. 
Hardin,  then  a  member  of  congress  from  the  seventh  district. 

James  Semple  was  a  native  of  Green  County,  Kentucky, 
where  he  was  born  Jan.  5,  1798.  His  parents  came  from 
Virginia,  and  were  descendants  of  an  old  Scotch  family  of 
Renfrewshire.  He  received  only  a  common-school  education, 
and  learned  the  trade  of  tanner  and  currier.  This  being  unsuited 
to  his  tastes,  he  decided  to  study  law  in  Louisville.  He  first  im- 
migrated to  this  State  in  1818,  and  in  1822  removed  to  Chariton, 
Mo.,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1828,  he  returned  to 
Illinois  and  settled  in  Edwardsville,  where  he  entered  upon  the 
successful  practice  of  his  profession.   Being  six  feet  three  inches 


460  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

in  height,  he  was  distinguished  for  his  personal  presence  and 
bearing.  He  was  a  brigadier-general  in  the  Black-Hawk  war, 
and,  as  has  already  appeared,  served  three  successive  terms 
in  the  general  assembly  having  been  twice  elected  speaker  of 
the  house.  In  1837,  he  was  appointed  minister  to  Santa  Fe  de 
Bogota  or  New  Grenada,  now  Columbia,  S.  A.  Returning 
home  in  1842,  he  was  soon  after  elected  to  the  supreme  court, 
and  was  transferred  thence  to  the  senate. 

After  the  expiration  of  his  congressional  term  in  1847,  he 
became  so  disgusted  with  the  prevarications,  trickery,  and  dem- 
agogism  with  which  the  life  of  a  politician  seemed  to  him  to  be 
inseparably  .connected,  that  he  determined  to  withdraw  from 
public  life  and  devote  his  time  to  the  prosecution  of  his  large 
private  business. 

He  laid  out  the  town  of  Elsah  in  Jersey  County,  and  pur- 
chased a  large  estate  on  the  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi  just  south 
of  it,  where  he  passed  the  evening  of  his  life  surrounded  by 
the  comforts  and  enjoyments  of  a  home  beautiful  for  situation 
and  adorned  by  tasteful  art. 

He  was  careful  in  business,  straightforward  and  upright  in 
his  dealings,  affectionate  in  all  his  family  relations,  and  kindly 
and  sociable  with  his  neighbors.  His  public  life  was  character- 
ized by  unswerving  rectitude  and  faithful  service.  He  died  at 
his  home  December  20,  1866.* 

The  financial  measures  passed  at  the  last  session,  with  the 
exception  of  those  relating  to  the  banks,  were  valuable  rather 
on  account  of  their  moral  effect  than  for  the  material  benefits 
produced  by  them.  The  canal  bond-holders  had  not  been  suffi- 
ciently advised  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  the  canal  debt  and 
value  of  the  property  to  justify  further  advances  without  mak- 
ing a  special  investigation. 

Sales  of  the  public  lands  were  not  effected  so  readily  as  had 
been  anticipated.  Of  the  210,000  acres  donated  by  congress 
under  the  distribution  law,  and  the  42,000  acres  owned  by  the 
State  under  the  internal-improvement  system  offered  for  sale, 
only  19,938  acres,  producing  the  sum  of  $73,199  in  bonds  and 
scrip,  had  been  sold. 

*  Since  his  decease,  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Lucy  V.  Semple  Ames,  of  St.  Louis,  has 
erected  a  splendid  mansion  on  the  paternal  estate,  where  she  resides  a  portion  of  the 
time;  his  son,  Eugene  Semple,  is  now  the  governor  of  Washington  Territory. 


<%tm~e4 


ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN   CANAL.  46 1 

Compliance  with  the  law  providing  for  the  refunding  of  the 
Macalister-and-Stebbins  bonds  was  found  impossible  because 
the  bonds  had  been  re-hypothecated  by  the  firm  to  raise  the 
money  advanced  by  them,  and  were  beyond  their  control. 

The  revenue  law  of  the  last  session  had  not  produced  a 
sufficient  sum  to  liquidate  indebtedness  incurred  for  ordinary 
expenses;  and  the  State  treasury  had  nothing  left  therefrom 
with  which  to  pay  interest. 

At  this  session  a  supplemental  canal  bill  was  passed,  under 
which  the  governor  was  enabled  to  complete  the  negotiation 
of  a  loan  of  $1,600,000,  and  that  property  was  transferred  to 
trustees. 

It  having  now  become  apparent  that  something  more  deci- 
sive must  be  attempted  than  the  mere  utterance  of  vaporous 
and  intangible  declarations  against  repudiation,  it  was  finally 
determined  to  pass  another  revenue  law  by  which  was  imposed 
the  collection  of  a  tax  of  three  mills  on  each  dollar's  valuation 
of  property  for  1845,  and  three  and  one-half  mills  thereafter; 
and  the  proceeds  of  one  mill  of  this  tax  for  1845,  and  one  and 
one-half  mills  for  1846  and  "forever  thereafter"  should  be  "set 
apart  and  sacredly  held  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the 
State  debt."  * 

The  idea  of  connecting  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  with 
those  of  the  Illinois  River  by  a  canal  passing  through  that 
invisible  but  no  less  actual  dividing  line  upon  which  the  accum- 
ulating waters  pause  to  determine  whether  they  will  find  their 
way  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  or  to  that  of  Mexico,  occurred 
to  the  earliest  explorers  of  the  Northwest;  the  first  to  suggest 
it  having  been  Louis  Joliet  in  1673. 

The  attention  of  congress  was  first  directed  toward  it  as  a 
connecting  link  between  the  east  and  west  in  an  able  report  on 
roads  and  canals  by  Albert  Gallatin,  secretary  of  the  treasury, 

*  The  amount  of  the  State-debt,  not  including  the  school-fund,  Jan.  1,  1845,  as 
reported  by  the  governor,  was  as  follows : 

Illinois  -  and  -  Michigan  Canal  debt $4,741,783 

Internal  improvement,  bank  stock,  and  state-house  -  6,712,886 

Total  $11,454,669 

Upon  which  no  interest  had  been  paid  since  July  1,  1841.  The  amount  of  interest 
now  due  being  $2,323,199.  The  assessed  value  of  real  estate  for  1844  in  the  State 
was  $50,989,854;  and  of  personal  property,  $16,473,056. 


462  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

April  4,  1808.*  It  was  subsequently  referred  to  by  A.  B. 
Woodward  in  a  report  to  the  Michigan  territorial  legislature  on 
internal  navigation  in  January,  i8i2;-f*  and  was  favorably  men- 
tioned in  Niles  Register  in  an  editorial  on  "resources  and 
improvements,"  Aug.  6,  1814.J 

It  was  the  subject  of  frequent  discussion  up  to  18 16,  at 
which  time,  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  construction  of  such  a 
work,  Governors  Edwards  of  this  State,  and  Clark  of  Missouri, 
and  Col.  A.  Chouteau,  as  United- States  commissioners,  made  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  by  which  the  latter  ceded  a  tract  of 
land  ten  miles  wide  along  the  proposed  route  extending  from 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  Illinois  River.  In  a  report  to  congress, 
Jan.  19,  1819,  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  secretary  of  war,  made  favor- 
able mention  of  a  canal  from  "the  Illinois  River  to  Lake 
Michigan  which  the  growing  population  of  the  State  renders 
very  important"  and  which  would  be  "valuable  for  military 
purposes."  §  In  December  of  the  same  year,  he  transmitted  to 
congress  the  reports  of  Major  Stephen  H.  Long  of  the  corps 
of  topographical  engineers  (dated  March  4,  18 17)  and  one 
made  by  Richard  Graham  and  Chief-Justice  Joseph  Phillips  of 
Illinois,  in  both  of  which  the  practicability  and  importance  of 
the  improvement  is  strongly  commended.  || 

In  advance  of  any  action  by  State  authority,  although  both 
Govs.  Bond  and  Coles  had  recommended  it,  congress  passed  an 
act,  March  30,  1822,  "authorizing  the  State  of  Illinois  to  open 
a  canal  through  the  public  lands  to  connect  the  Illinois  River 
with  Lake  Michigan,"  by  which  for  said  purpose  ninety  feet  of 
land  on  each  side  of  said  canal  was  vested  in  said  State.  The 
way  being  thus  opened,  even  though  only  to  a  limited  extent, 
so  far  as  regards  governmental  aid,  the  legislature  in  1823  passed 


*  a 


"American  State  Papers,"  Vol.  XX,  p.  714.         +  Niles  Register,  VI,  p.  140. 
%  A'i/es'  Register,  VI  394.     The  statement,  hitherto  accepted  upon  the  authority 
of  several  historians,  that  it  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  congress  in  a  message 
by  President  Madison  in  1814,  can  not  be  verified. 

§  "American  State  Papers,"  XXI,  p.  555. 

II  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  however,  that  in  the  "Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the 
Source  of  St.  Peter's  River"  by  Major  Long  in  1823,  although  he  visited  Chicago  and 
carefully  inspected  the  proposed  route  for  a  canal,  he  makes  no  reference  to  any 
former  visit  to  this  locality  or  to  any  previous  report  by  him  on  the  subject.  In  this 
latter  narrative,  while  he  states  that  "an  expenditure,  trifling  in  comparison  to  the 


ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN   CANAL.  463, 

an  act  providing  for  the  appointment  of  commissioners  "to 
consider,  devise,  and  adopt  such  means  as  may  be  required  to 
effect  the  communication  by  canal  and  locks  between  the 
navigable  waters  of  the  Illinois  River  and  Lake  Michigan." 
$6000,  a  large  sum  at  that  time,  was  appropriated  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  commission.  The  commissioners  appointed 
were  Emanuel  J.  West,  Erastus  Brown,  Theophilus  W.  Smith, 
Thos.  Sloo,  jr.,  and  Samuel  Alexander.  Rene  Paul  and  Justin 
Post  were  employed  as  engineers,  who  made  a  survey  of  the 
route — very  superficial  as  it  turned  out — and  reported  that  the 
cost  of  construction  would  not  exceed  $700,000.  This  under- 
estimate was  responsible  for  the  commencement  of  the  work 
on  a  larger  scale  than  the  State  found  itself  able  to  maintain, 
resulting  in  a  useless  expenditure  of  $1,500,000. 

The  favorable  report  of  the  commissioners  led  to  the  pas- 
sage of  a  law  at  the  next  session  of  the  legislature,  Jan.  17, 
1825,  incorporating  the  "Illinois-and- Michigan  Canal  Associa- 
tion with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000,"  by  which  it  was  provided 
that  "all  cessions,  grants,  and  transfers,  made,  or  that  may  be 
hereafter  made,  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  the  completion  of  the  canal  shall  pass 
and  vest  in  said  corporation."  Our  congressman,  Daniel  P. 
Cook,  who  had  secured  a  favorable  report  upon  a  bill  making  a 
donation  of  land  to  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  constructing 
the  canal,  perceiving  that  there  would  be  danger  of  defeating 
the  bill  when  it  was  seen  that  the  grant  would  inure  to  the 
benefit  of  a  private  corporation,  by  his  personal  influence 
secured  the  surrender  and  repeal  of  this  charter. 

On  March  2,  1827,  Mr.  Cook,  seconded  by  senators  Kane  and 
Thomas,  secured  the  passage  by  congress  of  the  act  granting 

importance  of  the  object,  would  again  render  Lake  Michigan  a  tributary  of  the 
Mexican  Gulf, "  he  further  remarks  that  "  it  is  the  opinion  of  those  best  acquainted 
with  the  nature  of  the  country,  that  the  easiest  communication  would  be  between 
the  Little  Calamick  and  some  point  of  the  Desplaines,  probably  below  the  portage 
road. "—" Long's  Expedition,"  Vol.  I,  166. 

The  latter  view  is  also  supported  by  Gov.  Coles  in  a  communication  published  in 
the  "Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,"  Oct.,  1830,  in  which  he  says:  "There  should  like- 
wise be  a  reconnoissance  between  the  Kalamick  of  the  lake  and  the  Saganaskee  and 
Joliet  of  the  Deplaine,  between  which  streams  the  summit  level  is  believed  to  be 
the  lowest.  *  *  *  From  all  the  information  I  have  been  able  to  collect,  I  am 
of  opinion  that  this  is  the  best  place  for  the  construction  of  a  canal." 


464  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

to  the  State  "for  the  purpose  of  aiding  her  in  opening  a  canal 
to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  River  with  those  of  Lake 
Michigan,"  the  alternate  sections  of  the  public  lands  on  each 
side  of  the  canal  for  five  miles  in  width  along  its  entire  route — 
the  number  of  acres  as  subsequently  ascertained  being  224,322. 

An  act  to  "consider,  devise,  and  adopt  such  measures  as  may 
be  required  to  facilitate  and  effect"  the  construction  of  the 
canal  was  passed  by  the  legislature  Jan.  22,  1826.  Under  this 
law  the  canal  commissioners  appointed  were  Dr.  Gershom 
Jayne,  Edmund  Roberts,  and  Charles  Dunn.  A  new  survey 
was  made  by  Engineer  James  M.  Bucklin,  but  not  much  prog- 
ress was  made  until  183 1,  when  an  amendatory  act  was  passed 
withdrawing  the  lands  from  private  entry,  and  providing  for 
the  subdivision  of  tracts  and  their  public  sale.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  these  acts  the  board  laid  out  the  towns  of  Ottawa 
and  Chicago. 

The  commissioners  having  reported  that  the  cost  of  the 
canal  would  amount  to  over  $4,000,000,  and  that  of  a  railroad 
between  the  same  points  would  be  only  one  million,  the  ques- 
tion of  substituting  a  railroad  for  a  canal  was  considered.  An 
act  of  congress  was  passed,  March  2,  1833,  providing  that  the 
lands  granted  to  the  State  "may  be  used  and  disposed  of  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  railroad  instead  of  a  canal." 

The  general  assembly,  by  act  of  March  1,  1833,  abolished 
the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  and  made  no  further  provi- 
sion to  prosecute  the  work.  But  in  1835,  it  was  again  decided 
to  construct  the  canal,  and  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  a  loan 
of  $500,000  on  the  credit  solely  of  the  canal-lands,  but  capital- 
ists declined  to  invest  on  the  security  offered.  On  Jan.  9,  1836, 
another  act  was  passed  as  heretofore  stated,  under  which  the 
loan  was  secured  on  the  credit  and  faith  of  the  State,  and  the 
actual  work  of  construction,  after  so  many  years  of  preliminary 
attempts  began  on  July  4,  of  that  year,  and  the  first  boat,  the 
General  Fry,  passed  from  Lockport  to  Chicago,  April  10,  1848, 
the  first  to  pass  through  the  entire  length  of  the  canal  being 
the  General  Thornton,  on  April  23,  '48.  The  event  was  formally 
celebrated  with  enthusiastic  demonstrations  by  citizens  from 
LaSalle  and  along  the  line  of  the  canal,  at  Chicago,  April  16. 

The  main  line  from  Bridgeport  to  LaSalle,  as  completed,  was 


ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN   CANAL.  465 

96  miles  in  length;  including  the  Chicago- River  portion,  100 
miles.  It  was  60  feet  wide  at  the  surface,  36  at  the  bottom,  and 
6  feet  deep.  It  had  5  feeders  and  17  locks,  and  was  spanned 
by  25  bridges.  Trade-basins  were  constructed  at  Lockport, 
Joliet,  Dupage,  Ottawa,  and  LaSalle,  besides  at  the  latter  point 
a  steamboat-basin  connecting  the  canal  with  the  Illinois  River. 

The  cost  of  the  canal  and  its  receipts,  excluding  the  amount 
paid  Chicago  for  deepening,  as  reported  by  the  chief  engineer, 
Daniel  C.  Jenne,  March  1,  1879,  were  as  follows: 

Expended  by  the  canal  commissioners  -      $5,133,062 

Expended  by  the  canal  trustees  -  1,424,619 

Making  the  total  cost     $6,557,681 

Receipts  from  sale  canal-lands  and  lots  $5,886,039 

Net  earnings  over  expenses  to  Mch.  '79    2,933,692     8,819,731 


Receipts  over  cost  $2,262,050 

The  unsold  lots  and  lands  were  valued  at  $156,000  in  Nov.,  1887. 

The  commissioners*  appointed  by  Gov.  Duncan  were  Wm.  F. 
Thornton,  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  and  Wm.  B.  Archer,  who  were 
succeeded  in  January,  1839,  by  Wm.  F.  Thornton  as  president 
of  the  board,  and  Jacob  Fry,  acting  commissioners,  elected  by 
the  general  assembly.  Isaac  N.  Morris  succeeded  Gen.  Thorn- 
ton as  president  of  the  board  in  1842,  when  William  Gooding 
became  the  chief  engineer. 

The  amount  expended  and  work  done  on  the  canal  for  the 
several  years  succeeding  its  commencement  was  as  follows:  in 
1836  $39,260;  1837  $350,649;  1838  $911,902;  1839  $1,479,907; 
1840  $1,117,702;  1 841  $644,875;  1842  $155,195,  making  a  total 
of  $4,679,494.  At  the  time  of  the  suspension  of  the  work  in 
March,  1843,  because  of  lack  of  funds,  there  was  $210,000  due 
to  superintendents  and  $230,000  to  contractors  for  damages.-f- 

Under  the  supplemental  act  of  1845,  providing  for  a  further 

*  These  were  all  leading  and  influential  whigs.  Of  Mr.  Hubbard  it  may  be  said 
that  he  was  one  of  Chicago's  earliest  citizens;  was  born  in  Windsor,  Vt.,  August 
22,  1802,  and  first  saw  Fort  Dearborn  in  1818.  He  was  an  Indian  trader,  and 
finally  settled  at  Chicago  in  1834,  where  he  continuously  resided  until  his  death, 
Sept.  14,  1886.  He  served  in  the  Black-Hawk  War,  was  a  member  of  the  Eighth 
General  Assembly,  and  an  enterprising  merchant  and  trader  all  his  life. 

+  "Illinois  Reports,"  1842-3. 
30 


466  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

loan  of  $1,600,000  and  the  completion  of  the  canal,  its  lands 
and  appurtenances  were  conveyed  in  June,  1845,  to  three 
trustees,  Wm.  H.  Swift  and  David  Leavitt,  representing  the 
bondholders,  and  Jacob  Fry  the  State.  Under  this  manage- 
ment the  work  was  completed. 

The  loan  of  $1,600,000  was  paid  by  the  trustees  in  1858  and 
they  also  began  paying  the  principal  of  the  preceding  debt, 
toward  which  the  State  contributed  $600,000. 

The  trustees  were  authorized  by  the  act  of  Feb.  15,  1865,  to 
enter  into  an  arrangement  with  the  city  of  Chicago  for  the 
purpose  of  completing  the  summit  division  of  the  canal  upon 
the  original  deep-cut  plan,  with  such  modifications  as  would 
secure  the  cleansing  and  purification  of  the  Chicago  River;  it 
being  provided  that  for  the  amount  expended  by  the  city,  the 
latter  should  have  a  vested  lien  upon  the  revenues  of  the  canal 
after  paying  the  present  canal -debt,  and  also  that  the  cost 
should  not  exceed  $2,500,000. 

In  August,  187 1,  the  last  incumbrance  having  been  removed, 
the  trustees,  who  had  managed  the  affairs  of  the  canal  for 
twenty- six  years,  turned  the  same  over  to  the  State  with  a 
surplus  fund  of  $92,545.  After  the  great  fire  of  Oct.  9,  1871, 
in  order  to  aid  the  city  in  its  dire  calamity,  the  State  "for  the 
purpose  of  relieving  the  lien"  appropriated  $2,955,340  to  reim- 
burse the  city  for  its  expenditures  thereon,  and  assumed  control. 

The  receipts  of  the  canal  for  the  first  year  of  its  operation 
were  $87,890,  and  the  gross  expenses,  including  repairs,  $43,197. 

The  largest  receipts,  for  any  one  year,  were  those  of  1866, 
amounting  to  $302,958,  the  expenses  being  $1 16,363;  and  the 
smallest,  those  for  the  year  1887,  being  $58,024,  gross  expenses 
$71 ,385.  Since  1879,  the  gross  expenses  have  exceeded  the  tolls 
every  year,  making  a  total  deficit  for  the  nine  years  of  $188,327, 
— or  an  annual  average  of  $20,925.  These  figures,  however, 
relate  only  to  the  operations  of  the  canal  proper.  It  has  other 
sources  of  revenue  besides  tolls.  Its  receipts  from  the  lease  of 
water-power  and  lots,  sales  of  clay  and  "spoil-bank"  stone,  with 
some  other  items,  amounted  in  1887  to  $28,803;  and  the  cash 
balance  on  hand  November  30,  of  that  year  was  $62,851.32, 
which  was  slightly  increased  for  the  year  ending  Nov.  30,  1888. 
And  although  contingent  appropriations  have  been   made  by 


ILLINOIS-AND-MICHIGAN   CANAL.  467 

the  legislature  for  its  use  at  each  session  since  1875,  not  one 
dollar  of  the  State's  money  has  been  needed  or  expended,  the 
same  having  been  invariably  covered  back  into  the  treasury. 

The  longest  time  the  canal  has  been  open  for  traffic  during 
any  one  year  was  in  1853,  from  March  4  to  Dec.  12,  being  274 
days;  the  shortest  in  1870,  from  April  7  to  Oct.  8,  184  days.* 

Under  the  law  for  the  improvement  of  the  Illinois  River,  the 
lock  and  dam  at  Henry,  costing  the  State  $400,000,  was  com- 
pleted in  1872,  and  that  at  Copperas  Creek  in  1877,  costing 
$410,000,  of  which  $80,000  was  appropriated  by  the  United 
States.  The  entire  plan  of  improvement  contemplates  the  con- 
struction of  three  additional  locks  and  dams  on  the  Illinois 
River  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $1,350,000. 

Occupying  so  large  a  place  in  the  history  of  the  State  as  this 
work  has,  a  plan  for  its  enlargement  to  the  dimensions  of  a 
ship-canal  and  its  completion  by  the  general  government  has 
assumed  a  national  importance.  The  constitution  of  1870 
provided  that  the  Illinois-and-Michigan  Canal  should  never  be 
sold  or  leased  until  the  proposition  therefor  had  been  ratified 

*  Henry  Grinnell  of  New  York  succeeded  David  Leavitt  as  trustee  in  1859,. 
the  State  trustees  were:  Jacob  Fry  from  June  18,  1845,  to  May  1,  1847;  Charles 
Oakley  from  May  1,  1847,  to  Jan.  17,  1849;  Joseph  B.  Wells  from  Jan.  17,  1849,  to 
Feb.  17,  1853;  Josiah  McRoberts  from  Feb.  17,  1853,  to  Jan.  23,  1857;  Dr.  Chas. 
H.  Ray  from  Jan.  23,  1857,  to  Jan.  23,  1861;  Martin  H.  Cassell  from  Jan.  23,  1861,. 
to  Feb.  13,  1865;  Sheridan  Wait  from  Feb.  13,  1865,  to  Feb.8,  1869;  Richard  Row- 
ett  from  Feb.  1869,  to  September,  1871,  close  of  trust. 

Under  the  act  for  canal  and  river  improvement  of  Feb.  28,  1867,  the  following; 
commissioners  were  appointed:  John  G.  Gindele,  Joseph  Utley,  and  Virgil  Hickox. 
Mr.  Gindele  was  succeeded  by  Robert  Milne,  Dec.  11,  1869.  Upon  the  surrender 
of  the  canal  to  the  State  in  1871,  it  was  again  placed  in  charge  and  under  the  con- 
trol of  commissioners,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  an  act  previously  passed 
April  22,  1S71.  Since  that  period  the  board  has  been  constituted  as  follows:  1873 
to  1877,  Joseph  Utley,  H.  G.  Anderson,  Wm.  N.  Brainard;  1877  to  1883,  Joseph 
O.  Glover,  Martin  Kingman,  and  B.  F.  Shaw;  1883  to  1885,  Charles  Bent,  George 
F.  Brown,  and  D.  J.  Calligan;  the  present  board  consists  of  Isaac  Taylor,  George 
F.  Brown,  and  Adam  Lieberknecht. 

Wm.  Gooding  was  the  chief  engineer  under  the  trustees  until  the  completion  of 
the  work,  when  he  was  appointed  secretary.  E.  B.  Talcott  was  the  general  superin- 
tendant  until  1855  when  he  was  succeeded  by  John  B.  Preston,  who  held  the  office 
until  1864,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Wm.  A.  Gooding,  son  of  William  Gooding, 
who  continued  to  act  up  to  1871.  Daniel  C.  Jenne  was  appointed  chief  engineer  in 
1 87 1,  and  continued  as  such  until  1879.  Wm.  Thomas  was  the  general  superintend- 
ent from  1872  to  July  15,  18S5,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  James  M.  Leighton. 


468  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

by  the  people  at  the  polls.  Accordingly  an  act  to  cede  the 
canal  to  the  United  States  was  passed  April  22,  1882,  and 
ratified  by  the  people  at  the  following  November  election.  A 
bill  passed  congress  in  August  of  the  same  year  providing  for 
the  survey  of  a  canal  from  a  point  on  the  Illinois  River,  at  or 
near  Hennepin,  by  the  most  practicable  route  to  the  Mississippi 
River,  at  or  above  the  city  of  Rock  Island.  The  enlargement 
of  the  canal,  its  extension  to  the  Mississippi,  and  the  desired 
legislation  of  congress  on  the  subject  are  current  topics  of 
agitation  and  discussion,  now  engrossing  the  minds  of  the  people. 
That  the  great  work  will  be  accomplished  before  many  years 
there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  reason  to  doubt. 

Ever  since  the  construction  of  the  first  canal  mentioned  by 
historians,  that  connecting  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  with 
those  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  upon  which  we  are  told  King 
Solomon  passed  with  his  fleet  to  join  that  of  Hiram,  king  of 
Tyre,  in  an  expedition  to  the  land  of  Ophir,  in  search  of  gold, 
canals  as  a  means  of  transportation  were  for  thousands  of 
years  regarded  as  the  first  and  most  important  national  im- 
provements for  the  promotion  of  trade  and  commerce. 

But  the  railraod,  the  invention  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
being  more  in  consonance  with  the  spirit  of  activity  and  rush 
which  characterizes  the  present  age,  has  to  a  great  extent  super- 
seded the  canal  wherever  the  two  have  come  into  competition. 
Although  the  latter  is  better  adapted  to  the  carrying  of  bulky 
freight,  it  must  yield  to  the  iron  horse  in  the  attainment  of 
speedy  results.  The  receipts  on  our  own  canal  are  a  convinc- 
ing proof  of  this  fact.  Waterways  are  nevertheless  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  the  commercial  world  and  will  always 
command  encouragement  and  support.  Their  existence,  and  the 
facility  with  which  they  can  be  employed,  operate  as  a  standing 
menace  against  exorbitant  and  unjust  charges  by  lines  of  rail. 
They  may  not  carry  the  wheat  or  corn  or  lumber,  but  they 
are  there  ready  to  do  so,  and  the  rates  established  by  them 
regulate  the  price  of  transportation.  Their  influence  in  this 
respect  is  not  confined  to  the  particular  route  over  which  they 
pass,  but  is  as  far  reaching  and  controlling  as  is  their  connec- 
tion with  other  routes  in  every  direction. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

Administration  of  Gov.    Ford   continued  —  The    Mormon 
Imbroglio  —  The  Mexican  War. 

THE  administration  of  Gov.  Ford  was  distinguished  not 
more  on  account  of  the  important  financial  measures 
adopted  to  save  the  credit  of  the  State,  than  for  the  serious 
disturbances  which  occurred  during  that  period,  growing  out 
of  the  presence  of  the  Mormons. 

The  founder  of  this  sect  was  Joseph  Smith,  jr.,  who  was 
born  at  Sharon,  Vermont,  Dec.  23,  1805.  In  1815,  the  family- 
removed  to  a  farm  near  Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  where  the  education 
of  the  future  seer  was  carried  on  by  an  intermittent  attendance 
at  the  public  school.  In  early  life,  he  was  reputed  among  his 
neighbors  to  be  shiftless,  lazy,  dull,  of  questionable  morals, 
with  predilections  toward  a  vagabond  life,  and  evincing  no 
originality,  nor  giving  any  promise  of  ever  becoming  a  leader 
of  men.  He  inherited  from  his  mother  a  dreamy  cast  of  mind 
and  early  claimed  the  gift  of  second-sight,  and  the  ability, 
through  the  medium  of  an  alleged  magic  stone  in  his  posses- 
sion, to  find  lost  or  stolen  goods. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  became  morbidly  interested  in  the 
subject  of  religion.  The  period  was  one  peculiarly  marked  by 
many  wonderful  revivals  in  that  portion  of  the  country,  in 
which  the  subjects  of  their  influence  fell  into  spiritual  ecstasies, 
resulting  in  remarkable  physical  manifestations.  The  excite- 
ment in  the  local  religious  world  was  intense,  and  Joseph,  with 
others,  came  under  its  spell.  He  spent  much  time,  as  he  has 
stated,  "in  secret  communion  with  his  Maker,"  and  in  conse- 
quence soon  set  up  a  claim  to  be  the  prophet  of  the  Lord  and 
to  receive  revelations  directly  from  God.  In  what  he  termed  a 
vision,  he  declared  that  an  angel  informed  him  that  he  had 
been  selected  "  as  a  chosen  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord 
to  accomplish  great  and  marvellous  purposes."  It  was  also 
made  known  to  him  that  certain  sacred  records,  which  had  been 
kept  and  handed  down  through  many  generations  by  inspired 

469 


470  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

writers,  were  deposited  in  a  specified  locality  near  Manchester, 
N.  Y.,  whither  he  was  instructed  to  go  and  view  them.  Under 
the  direction  of  this  heavenly  guide  he  was  first  permitted  to 
behold  these  records,  Sept.  22,  1823,  and  precisely  four  years 
thereafter,  they  were  again  inspected  by  him  and  this  time 
delivered  into  his  hands.  They  were  said  to  be  engraved  upon 
gold  plates  about  the  thickness  of  common  tin,  eight  by  seven 
inches  in  size,  the  letters  being  "reformed  Egyptian  characters;" 
these  plates  were  contained  in  a  stone  box  which  was  buried 
just  beneath  the  earth's  surface.  In  the  same  box  were  found 
two  stones,  transparent  and  clear  as  crystal,  called  the  Urim 
and  Thwnmim,  such  as  were  used  by  ancient  Jewish  seers  as 
instruments  for  interpreting  revelations,  by  looking  through 
which,  the  divine  will  was  made  manifest. 

His  method  of  proceeding  in  the  transcription  of  these 
records,  by  which  the  text  of  the  "Book  of  Mormon"  was  pro- 
duced, was  as  follows:  "the  seer- stone  having  been  placed  in  a 
soft  hat,  which  was  closely  drawn  around  his  face  excluding 
the  natural  light,  the  spiritual  light  would  shine.  A  piece  of 
something  resembling  parchment  would  appear  and  on  that  was 
seen  the  writing.  One  character  at  a  time  would  appear  and 
under  it  was  the  interpretation  in  English.  Brother  Joseph 
would  read  off  the  English  to  Oliver  Cowdery,  who  was  his 
principal  scribe,  and  when  it  was  written  down  and  repeated  to 
Brother  Joseph  to  see  if  it  was  correct,  then  it  would  disappear 
and  another  character  with  the  interpretation  would  appear."^ 

One  hundred  and  sixteen  pages  were  translated  through 
these  oracular  stones,  but  the  manuscript  having  been  carried 
away  by  the  amanuensis,  Harris,  and  carelessly  lost  or  stolen, 
the  Lord,  by  way  of  chastisement,  took  away  the  Urim  and 
TJiummim  from  his  prophet,  which  were  replaced,  only  after 
long  wrestling  in  prayer,  by  another  stone,  oral-shaped  and  fiat, 
through  which  he  was  permitted  to  complete  his  work. 

David  Whitmer,  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the  "Book  of  Mor- 
mon," and  who  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- three  years 
in  Richmond,  Mo.,  Jan.  25,  1888,  where  he  had  resided  for  over 
half  a  century,  retained  in  his  possession  at  the  time  of  his 
death  the  original  manuscript  of  this  production,  and  also  what 

*  David  Whitmer. 


47i 


472  ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

he  claimed  to  be  an  original  paper  containing  some  of  the 
characters  transmitted  from  one  of  the  golden  plates,  of  which 
the  foregoing  is  a  copy. 

The  so-called  translation  was  completed  in  June,  1829.  The 
golden  plates  were  returned  to  the  angel  as  directed;  the  holy 
stone  is  said  to  be  in  Utah.  The  book  purports  to  be  an 
abridgment  of  the  records  of  the  people  of  Nephi,  who  were 
descendants  of  Joseph,  of  the  House  of  Judah;  of  the  Laman- 
ites,  who  were  a  remnant  of  the  House  of  Israel,  and  also  of 
the  people  of  Jared.  It  gives  an  account  of  their  emigration 
to  America,  of  their  history  here,  covering  a  period  of  two 
thousand  years,  and  of  the  final  destruction  of  the  Nephites  — 
a  white  race — on  account  of  their  sins,  by  the  Lamanites,  who 
were  the  ancient  red  men  of  this  country.  Mormon,  a  holy 
Nephite,  engraved  the  characters  representing  this  history  on 
plates,  but  he  having  been  slain,  the  record  fell  into  the  hands 
of  his  son  Moroni,  who  being  hunted  by  his  enemies,  deposited 
the  plates  in  the  ground,  four  hundred  years  after  Christ,  where 
it  is  claimed  they  were  found. 

To  establish  the  authenticity  of  the  book  two  certificates 
were  printed  therewith,  the  first  signed  by  Oliver  Cowdery, 
David  Whitmer,  and  Martin  Harris.  They  declare  that  "an 
angel  of  God  came  down  from  Heaven,  and  brought  and;  laid 
before  our  eyes  that  we  beheld  and  saw  the  plates  and  engrav- 
ings thereon;"  and  that  they  were  translated  "by  the  gift  and 
power  of  God."  Eight  other  witnesses,  four  of  whom  were 
named  Whitmer,  three  of  the  Smith  family,  and  Hiram  Page, 
certify  that  the  translator  exhibited  to  them  the  plates  referred 
to,  "which  had  the  appearance  of  gold,  and  that  they  handled 
the  leaves  which  had  been  translated,  with  their  own  hands, 
and  saw  the  engravings  thereon,  which  had  the  appearance  of 
ancient  work  and  curious  workmanship  " 

A  circumstance  which  has  been  cited  as  strongly  presumptive 
of  the  sincerity  and  good  faith  of  Martin  Harris  is  the  fact 
that  he  took  a  copy  of  the  transcript  of  hieroglyphics  to  New- 
York  City  for  inspection  by  Prof.  Charles  Anthon,  am  eminent 
scholar  and  linguist.  The  professor  examined  the  paper  and 
found  it  "a  singular  scroll"  made  up  of  Greek  and  other  letters 
and  curious  characters,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  "that  it  was 


THE   BOOK   OF   MORMON.  473 

all  a  trick,  perhaps  a  hoax."  Learning  that  Harris  intended  to 
sell  his  farm  to  raise  money  to  pay  for  publishing  the  alleged 
translation,  the  professor  became  suspicious  that  it  was  a  scheme 
to  swindle  Harris,  which  opinion  he  plainly  communicated  to 
him,  warning  him  to  beware  of  rogues.  To  the  surprise  of  the 
savant,  he  was  soon  after  again  visited  by  Harris  who  brought 
with  him  a  copy  of  the  "golden  book"  in  print,  which  he  tried 
to  sell  him,  and  when  the  latter  declined  to  purchase  insisted 
upon  his  acceptance  of  a  copy  free  of  charge  for  the  purpose  of 
examination. 

It  having  been  stated  in  the  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"*  and 
various  other  publications,  that  the  three  witnessess,  Whitmer, 
and  Cowdery,  had  denied  their  testimony  regarding  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  book  of  Mormon,  David  Whitmer,  in  1881,  issued 
what  he  entitled  "A  Proclamation  to  all  Nations,  Kindred 
Tongues  and  People,"  in  which  he  positively  and  clearly  re- 
affirms his  original  statement,  and  declares  that  neither  Harris 
nor  Cowdery  had  ever  denied  their  testimony;  that  the  latter 
died  in  1850,  in  the  same  town  where  he,  Whitmer,  resided,  and 
that  his  last  words  were,  "Brother  David,  be  true  to  your  testi- 
mony to  the  Book  of  Mormon."  This  paper  is  accompanied  by 
a  certificate  signed  by  Gen.  A.  W.  Doniphan,  Hon.  Geo.  W. 
Dunn,  and  twenty-two  other  leading  citizens  of  Richmond,  Mo., 
stating  that,  "we  have  been  long  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  him,  Whitmer,  and  know  him  to  be  a  man  of  the  highest 
integrity  and  of  undoubted  truth  and  veracity." 

In  1838,  all  three  of  these  original  witnesses  were  excom- 
municated from  the  Mormon  Church  for  apostasy,  because  they 
refused  to  believe  in  the  prophet's  subsequent  teachings,  David 
Whitmer  being  especially  outspoken  in  his  denunciation  of  the 
doctrine  of  polygamy,  the  high  priesthood,  and  the  later  so- 
called  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  and  his  successors.  He 
firmly  adhered  to  his  original  faith  as  a  member  of  the  "church 
of  Christ." 

In  1887,  he  issued  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject  of  the  Mor- 
mons in  which  he  once  more  strongly  re-affirms  his  former 
testimony  and  explains  his  views  at  length.  On  his  death-bed 
he  called  his  neighbors  around  him,  among  them  Dr.  Geo.  W. 

*  Vol.  XVI,  852. 


474  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

Buchanan,  who  testified  to  his  soundness  of  mind,  and  solemnly 
stated  that  he  "  wanted  to  bear  his  dying  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  the  Mormon  Bible."  "I  want  to  say  to  you  all  that  the 
Bible  and  the  record  of  the  Nephites  is  true." 

These  are  the  facts  relating  to  the  Book  of  Mormon,  as  con- 
tended for  by  those  who  have  faith  in  its  verity.  That  these 
three  witnesses  were  sincere  and  believed  their  testimony  to  be 
true,  there  seems  hardly  room  to  doubt;  and  that  Joseph  Smith 
had  in  his  possession  metallic  plates  of  some  description  with 
engraved  characters  upon  them,  must  be  admitted  if  this  testi- 
mony be  accepted  as  trustworthy. 

How  far  these  witnesses,  if  at  all,  were  operated  upon  by 
exterior  influences  beyond  their  knowledge  or  control;  whence 
the  plates  were  derived;  the  truth  in  regard  to  their  origin;  and 
genuineness  of  their  translation,  are  questions  of  speculative 
inquiry,  whose  determination  must  depend  upon  the  nature  of 
the  evidence,  the  degree  of  faith  exercised,  and  the  credulity 
of  public  opinion. 

The  American  Mahomet  having  produced  and  published  his 
Koran,  believers  in  his  wondrous  revelations  soon  became  so  nu- 
merous as  to  warrant  the  formation  of  a  new  religious  sect,  and 
one  was  accordingly  organized  at  Fayette,  N.Y.,  on  Apr.  6,  1830, 
which  was  at  first  denominated  "The  Church  of  Christ,"  the 
name  being  afterward  changed  to  "The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-Day  Saints."  Although  outside  of  a  belief  in  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  and  in  the  exercise  of  miraculous  powers,  there 
was  nothing  specially  new  in  its  articles  of  faith,  the  growth  of 
the  church  was  unprecedented.  The  new  creed  was  eagerly 
embraced  by  two  classes  always  largely  present  in  every  com- 
munity. To  its  standard  flocked  the  discontented  and  the 
credulous.  Those  who  had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  forms 
of  faith  in  which  they  had  been  reared,  and  which  they  had 
formerly  professed,  and  those  whose  innate  yearnings  for  the 
new  and  the  mysterious  led  them  to  yield  a  ready  ear  to  any- 
thing, however  improbable,  provided  it  was  novel,  quickly 
became  disciples.  With  them  was  joined  an  element  of  social 
renegades,  men  of  scheming,  ambition  and  dissolute  life,  who 
saw  in  the  new  movement  a  stepping-stone  to  power  and  wealth. 
In  a  word,  among  the  disciples  of   Smith  were  included  the 


GROWTH   OF   THE   NEW   SECT.  475 

malcontent,  the  visionary,  and  the  enthusiast,  the  scoundrel  and 
the  dupe.  One  and  all,  however,  displayed  a  fanatical  fervor 
which  seemed  to  find  its  highest  gratification  in  the  voluntary 
and  total  surrender  of  property  and  services  alike,  in  the  hope 
of  being  numbered  among  the  elect  "according  to  Joseph  the 
prophet  of  the  Lord." 

In  person,  Joseph  Smith,  then  in  the  virile  strength  of  early 
manhood,  was  tall  and  well -formed,  muscular  and  active.  He 
had  a  light  complexion,  light  hair,  blue  eyes,  very  little  beard, 
and  an  expression  of  countenance  peculiarly  attractive.  His 
manner  was  affable,  easy,  and  familiar.  His  temper  was  ordi- 
narily amiable,  but  terrible  in  its  intensity  when  aroused.  As  a 
speaker,  he  was  not  polished  but  possessed  a  native  gift  of  sim- 
ple, unstudied  eloquence,  not  the  least  of  whose  charms  was  its 
originality.  His  addressess  abounded  in  quaint  illustrations 
and  scriptural  quotations,  and  whether  touching  on  the  common 
place,  or  rising  to  the  contemplation  of  higher  and  supernatural 
themes,  "he  interested  and  edified,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
amused  and  entertained  his  audience."* 

Naturally  the  promulgation  of  a  religion  possessing  so  many 
peculiar  features  was  destined  to  arouse  strong  opposition. 
Other  denominations  fulminated  in  no  measured  terms  their 
denunciations  against  it,  and  the  press,  through  papers,  pamph- 
lets, and  books,  sought  to  stem  the  tide  of  successful  propag- 
andism  by  assailing  the  work  and  character  of  its  founder. 
These  attacks  doubtless  assumed  the  proportions  of  religious 
persecution  and  sometimes  were  followed  by  personal  assaults 
from  mobs  and  arrests  for  alleged  crimes. 

Believing  that  if  the  authorship  of  the  Book  of  Mormon 
could  be  established  in  some  one  beside  Joseph  Smith,  the 
superstructure  of  the  new  faith  would  be  undermined  and  the 
organization  founded  thereon  would  fall,  his  opponents  charged 
that  the  book  was  based  upon  a  work  written  in  1812  by  one 
Solomon  Spaulding,  entitled  "The  Manuscript  Found";  which 
had  in  some  way  come  into  the  possession  of  Joseph  Smith  or 
Sidney  Rigdon,  or  both,  who  had  changed  its  contents  to  suit 
their  own  purposes.  A  number  of  personal  statements  were 
produced    from   those  who   had    heard   all   or  portions   of  the 

*  "Life  of  Joseph  the  Prophet,"  by  E.  W.  Tullidge. 


476  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

Spaulding  manuscript  read  by  the  author,  and  who  had  also 
heard  read  the  Book  of  Mormon.  These  certified  that  "with 
the  exception  of  the  religious  matter  contained  in  the  alleged 
translation,  it  is  the  same;"  nearly  all  especially  remembering 
the  use  of  the  names  of  Nephi,  Lehi,  and  Moroni,  which  were 
said  to  be  identical  in  both  the  translated  book  and  the  manu- 
script.* 

The  followers  of  Smith  replied  to  this  charge  that  there  was 
no  reliable  evidence  connecting  Smith  with  Rigdon  prior  to 
1830,  or  either  with  any  Spaulding  manuscript;  that  the  state- 
ments of  similarity  between  the  latter  and  the  Mormon  bible 
were  not  made  under  the  sanction  of  an  oath,  were  ex  parte, 
manufactured  out  of  flimsy  suppositions,  and  totally  unworthy 
of  credence;  that  the  history  of  the  only  Spaulding  manu- 
script which  had  ever  been  produced,  and  in  regard  to  whose 
existence  there  was  any  certainty,  had  been  definitely  traced 
from  the  time  the  author  presented  it  for  publication  in  Pitts- 
burgh, in  18 12;  and  more  recently  that  it  was  discovered  in 
Honolulu  in  August,  1885,  by  President  J.  H.  Fairchild  of 
Oberlin  College,  and  has  been  since  published,  refuting  the 
charge  of  plagiarism. 

The  opponents  of  Mormonism  have  placed  more  stress  upon 
their  efforts  to  prove  the  worthlessness  of  the  Mormon  bible  as 
an  inspired  record,  on  the  ground  of  authorship,  than  the  nat- 
ure of  the  evidence  produced  by  them  warrants.  The  powers 
of  mind  required  to  conceive  and  execute  the  Mormon  scheme, 
as  a  new  departure  of  religious  faith  and  practice,  were  far 
superior  to  those  required  to  write  the  Mormon  bible.  For  this 
work  no  special  or  unusual  literary  qualifications  were  necessary, 
nor  are  they  exhibited  in  its  composition,  which  is  that  of  an 
unpractised  writer  of  but  small  pretensions  to  learning.  The 
biblical  style  adopted,  to  one  imbued  with  its  spirit,  can  be 
easily  acquired,  and  has  been  frequently  copied. 

The  condemnation  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  as  a  work  of 
divine  authority  may  be  found  in  the  abundant  evidence  which 
itself  furnishes.  It  abounds  in  anachronisms,  and  in  quotations 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  many  of  the  latter  being 
put  into  the  mouth  of  alleged  American  prophets  five  hundred 

*  "History  of  Mormonism,"  by  E.   D.  Howe. 


>»»-- 


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THE   MORMONS   IN   MISSOURI.  477 

years  before  they  were  uttered  by  Christ  or  his  apostles.  Many 
of  its  statements  of  fact,  such  as  the  killing  of  two  millions  of 
combatants  in  one  battle,  are  wholly  incredible.  It  contains 
also  many  revival  and  camp-meeting  expressions  current  at  the 
period  of  its  publication,  a  circumstance  which  very  clearly  indi- 
cates its  modern  paternity. 

In  1832,  the  membership  having  rapidly  increased,  a  large 
portion  of  "the  church"  in  pursuance  of  "divine  indications," 
removed  to  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  while  others,  with  the 
prophet,  settled  at  Kirtland,  O.  The  immigrants  at  Indepen- 
dence, Mo.,  prospered  for  a  time,  but  soon  came  into  more  or 
less  active  collision  with  their  neighbors,  which  resulted  in  their 
being  driven  away;  a  portion  settling  in  Clay  County  for 
awhile,  but  all  afterward  removing  to  Caldwell  and  Davies 
counties,  where  large  tracts  of  land  were  purchased,  and  the 
town  of  Far  West  established.  Here  they  were  joined  by 
that  portion  of  the  organization  left  in  Ohio,  which  had  been 
torn  by  dissensions  and  financial  embarrassments,  in  1838;  the 
prophet  leaving  by  night,  pursued  by  importunate  creditors. 
Their  claims  and  pretensions  here  were  equally  objectionable, 
and  brought  on  a  conflict  between  them  and  the  mob  which 
resulted  in  several  serious  engagements,  the  loss  of  not  a  few 
lives,  the  calling  out  of  the  militia  by  Gov.  Boggs,  who  sur- 
rounded and  captured  the  city  of  Far  West,  and  made  prisoners 
of  its  undesirable  inhabitants.  All  were  released  on  their  promise 
to  leave  the  state,  except  Joseph  Smith  and  six  leading  associ- 
ates, who  were  tried  before  a  court  martial  for  treason,  and 
condemned  to  be  shot.  This  unquestionably  illegal  sentence 
would  have  been  carried  out  but  for  the  firm  and  determined 
opposition  of  Col.  A.  W.  Doniphan,  and  the  prisoners  were 
committed  to  jail  for  trial. 

They  were  indicted  in  Davies  County  on  charges  of  treason, 
murder,  and  larceny,  but  having  secured  a  change  of  venue, 
escaped  from  the  sheriff,  while  being  transferred  to  Marion 
County. 

The  condition  of  the  Mormons  in  Missouri  who  had  been 
despoiled  of  their  property  and  homes  and  ordered  to  leave 
the  State  naturally  appealed  to  the  sympathy  and  commisera- 
tion of  those  to  whom  their  tales  of  woe  had  come.     Many  of 


478  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

them  fled  to  Illinois,  whose  citizens  were  stirred  greatly  by  the 
recitals  of  their  sufferings  and  made  liberal  offers  of  assistance, 
which  were  gratefully  accepted.  Here,  in  Hancock  County,  at 
a  small  village  called  Commerce,  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
to  which  was  now  given  the  name  Nauvoo,  the  prophet  deter- 
mined to  re-locate  his  scattered  followers.  The  New  Jerusalem 
of  Missouri  in  spite  of  prophecy  and  special  revelations  regard- 
ing the  prosperity  and  power  of  that  new  Zion,  had  come  to 
naught.  But  the  prophet  had  escaped  from  the  toils  of  his 
enemies,  said  his  followers,  and  would  now  re -organize  his 
church  in  greater  strength  and  splendor  than  ever  before.  And 
notwithstanding  the  utter  failure  of  his  colony  in  Missouri,  their 
faith  remained  unshaken  and  their  numbers  continued  rapidly 
to  multiply.  The  fires  of  persecution  seemed  only  to  rekindle 
their  ardor  and  stimulate  their  devotion. 

Within  two  years,  over  two  thousand  dwellings  were  erected 
in  Nauvoo,  besides  school-houses  and  other  public  edifices;  and 
by  1842  the  Mormons  in  Hancock  County  numbered  over  six- 
teen thousand  souls. 

With  the  steadily  growing  prosperity  which  attended  the 
new  establishment,  and  the  constant  increase  in  the  number  of 
"conversions,"  the  brain  of  the  founder  and  leader  of  the  move- 
ment became  intoxicated  by  his  increasing  power  and  the 
incense  arising  from  the  adulation  of  his  disciples.  Ignoring 
the  necessity  for  prudence  and  moderation,  forgetful  of  the 
dearly-learned  lessons  of  the  past,  he  rushed  blindly  forward 
toward  the  collapse  of  his  ambition,  the  shipwreck  of  his  hopes, 
and  even  to  his  death.  Not  content  to  confine  his  efforts  to 
the  propagation  of  his  distinctive  tenets,  and  the  supervision  of 
the  spiritual  interests  of  his  followers,  he  assumed  to  meddle 
with,  and  direct  the  action  of  his  adherents  regarding  state  and 
national  politics.  In  Missouri,  they  had  allied  themselves  with 
the  dominant  party,  but  were  strongly  suspected  of  cherishing 
abolition  sympathies,  and  owed  their  expulsion  from  the  State 
to  a  democratic  administration.  President  VanBuren  had  denied 
Smith  a  hearing  on  his  petition  for  compensation  for  losses  of 
property  in  Missouri,  and  the  latter,  not  unnaturally,  sought  in 
Illinois  the  friendship  of  the  whigs,  who,  being  in  the  minority, 
did  not  feel  disposed  to  reject  an  alliance  which  could  render 


REMOVAL   TO    ILLINOIS.  479 

such  material  aid.  The  Mormons  accordingly  voted  for  Gen. 
Harrison  in  1840.  But  the  political  affinities  of  the  Saints  were 
based  solely  upon  benefits  accruing  to  their  organization,  and 
having  secured  the  aid  of  the  democrats  in  passing  the  city 
charter  and  the  promise  of  other  legislative  favors,  the  prophet, 
.  in  1842,  issued  his  proclamation  calling  upon  his  followers  to 
support  the  democrats.  The  extraordinary  powers  granted  in 
the  act  incorporating  the  city  of  Nauvoo  laid  the  foundation 
for  those  ordinances  by  which  he  expected  to  reach  the  very 
pinnacle  of  power,  but  which  in  reality  resulted  in  his  down- 
fall and  ruin.  Under  its  provisions,  the  city  established  its 
own  courts  and  militia  organization,  both  of  which  were  inde- 
pendent of  State  control,  and  virtually  in  conflict  with  the  laws 
and  constitution. 

A  warrant,  issued  by  Gov.  Carlin  in  1842,  for  the  arrest  of 
Joseph  Smith  as  a  fugitive  from  justice  from  Missouri,  had  not 
been  executed  when  Gov.  Ford  came  into  office,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  testing  in  the  federal  court,  the  question  involved,  a  new 
writ  was  issued  and  served  and  the  prisoner  brought  to  Spring- 
field. A  writ  of  habeas  corpiis  was  thereupon  sued  out  by  Justin 
Butterfield,  an  eminent  and  witty  lawyer  from  Chicago,  before 
Judge  Pope.  The  notoriety  of  the  accused  no  less  than  the 
importance  of  the  question  attracted  wide  attention,  and  a  large 
audience  gathered  at  the  hearing,  including  many  ladies,  for 
whom  seats  had  been  prepared  on  the  platform  upon  which  the 
judge  was  seated.  When  Butterfield  arose  to  address  the  court, 
he  began  by  saying  that  he  supposed  no  member  of  the  legal 
profession  had  ever  before  been  situated  as  himself  on  that 
occasion — "standing  in  the  august  presence  of  the  Pope,  sur- 
rounded by  angels,  defending  the  Prophet  of  the  Lord."  He 
was  successful  in  his  application,  the  law  of  the  case  being  found 
unquestionably  in  favor  of  his  client,  who  was  at  once  dis- 
charged. Smith  was  again  indicted  in  Missouri  in  1843,  for  an 
alleged  attempt  to  murder  Gov.  Boggs,  and  another  warrant 
was  issued  upon  which  he  was  again  arrested;  but  while  on 
their  way  the  officer  and  his  prisoner  were  met  by  an  armed 
force  of  Mormons  who  conducted  the  prophet  to  Nauvoo,  where 
he  was  released  by  the  municipal  court. 

Feeling  now  secure  from  further  molestation  by  arrest,  and 


480  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

emboldened  by  the  successful  operation  of  his  city  ordinances, 
and  apparent  ability  to  maintain  his  supreme  authority,  the 
overweening  ambition  of  the  prophet  knew  no  bounds.  He 
arrogated  to  himself  substantially  the  entire  civil  power  con- 
ferred by  the  city  charter.  As  mayor,  and  ex-officio  president 
of  the  council,  he  shaped  the  legislation  which,  as  sole  judge  of 
the  mayor's  court  and  chief  justice  of  the  municipal  court,  it 
was  his  duty  to  construe,  and  the  enforcement  of  which  was  in 
his  own  hands  as  chief  executive.  Besides  the  control  of  the 
police,  he  was  invested  with  command  of  an  absolutely  subser- 
vient military  force,  and  endowed  with  the  power  to  conduct  a 
system  of  secret  espionage  through  an  organized  hireling  band, 
whose  only  law  was  the  will  of  an  unscrupulous  chief,  to  whom 
they  formed  a  sort  of  body-guard. 

He  also  instituted  a  select  order  of  priesthood,  whose  mem- 
bers were  called  Priests  and  Kings,  of  which  body  he  was 
anointed  the  supreme  head.  It  was  through  this  order,  it  was 
claimed,  that  he  divulged  his  views  in  regard  to,  and  initiated, 
his  system  of  spiritual  or  "celestial  marriages,"  out  of  which 
grew  polygamy  as  now  practised  in  Utah. 

But  as  if  the  possession  of  these  extraordinary  civic  and 
ecclesiastical  powers  were  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  ambition, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  becoming  a  temporal  prince  as  well — 
and  in  1844,  declared  himself,  in  an  address  "to  the  American 
People,"  a  candidate  for  president.  The  government  of  the 
United  States  was  openly  denounced,  and  many  of  his  follow- 
ers really  pretended  to  believe  that  it  would  be  succeeded  by 
that  of  Joseph  Smith.  And  thus  it  appeared  to  the  infatuated 
leader  and  his  fanatical  disciples  that  he  was  making  rapid 
strides  toward  the  attainment  of  great  "power  and  glory." 

The  rise  and  progress  of  such  an  organization  as  the  Mor- 
mons in  any  community  or  state  could  naturally  have  but  one 
result.  Fleeing  to  Illinois  from  the  vengeance  of  Missouri 
mobs  and  as  suppliants  for  charity,  they  injected  into  their 
church  administration  an  element  of  fanaticism  exceedingly 
offensive  and  altogether  distasteful.  Holding,  as  they  soon 
came  to  do,  the  balance  of  power  politically,  they  cast  it — 
ostensibly  by  Divine  command  —  now  on  one  side  and  now  on 
the  other,  a  course  which,  so  far  from  promoting  conciliation, 


THE   PROPHET'S   DESPOTIC    SWAY.  48 1 

fomented  antagonism.  Assuming  to  be  the  only  church  whose 
teachers  possessed  the  apostolic  power  of  working  miracles  and 
the  "gift  of  tongues,"  they  were  unsparing  in  their  denunciation 
of  every  other  religious  sect,  which  course  could  scarcely  fail 
to  awaken  bitter  resentment.  At  the  same  time,  their  claim 
to  independence  of  the  State,  with  its  attendant  usurpation  of 
power,  arrayed  against  them  on  yet  other  grounds  a  public 
hostility  which  was  not  long  in  finding  occasion  to  become 
demonstrative. 

The  people  of  Hancock  County  soon  became  divided  in 
their  relations  to  this  organization  as  follows:  one  portion,  in- 
cluding generally  the  old,  responsible  citizens,  although  opposed 
to  the  Mormons,  were  not  in  favor  of  extreme  or  unlawful 
measures  against  them;  another  portion,  comprising  the  largest, 
and  which  contained  many  of  the  worst,  elements  in  society,  the 
reckless  and  the  vicious,  composed  the  anti  -  Mormon  party 
proper.  There  was  still  another  portion,  called  Jack-Mormons, 
many  of  them  unscrupulous,  who  sided  with  the  Mormons  from 
motives  of  self-interest. 

So  despotic  had  the  rule  of  the  prophet  become  through  the 
agencies  already  enumerated  that  a  number  of  his  prominent 
followers  had  determined  openly  to  oppose  him  and  resist  his 
further  encroachments.  To  this  end,  for  the  purpose  of  more 
readily  reaching  the  public  ear,  they  established  in  Nauvoo  a 
newspaper  as  their  organ.  But  one  number  was  ever  permitted 
to  appear.  By  an  order  of  the  common  council,  upon  an  ex- 
partc  proceeding,  the  heretical  press,  having  been  declared  to 
be  a  public  nuisance,  was  destroyed;  and  its  owners  and  pro- 
moters expelled  from  the  church.  This  action,  altogether  un- 
precedented, arbitrary,  and  illegal,  brought  on  a  crisis.  Warrants 
for  the  arrest  of  Mayor  Smith  and  other  officers  who  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  summary  proceedings  were  issued;  but  their 
service  was  either  resisted,  or  those  arrested  were  promptly 
discharged  by  the  municipal  court,  so  that  it  was  found  impossi- 
ble to  bring  the  perpetrators  of  the  offence  to  a  trial.  Upon 
receiving  a  formal  request  to  call  out  the  militia  to  aid  in 
executing  civil  process  in  Nauvoo  the  governor  determined  to 
visit  the  disturbed  locality  in  person.  There  had  already  been 
presented   to  him   the   difficult    problem   of    meeting   from   an 

31 


482  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

empty  state  treasury,  the  interest  on  an  enormous  state  debt; 
he  was  now  called  upon  to  solve  one  more  perplexing  yet.  He 
saw  at  a  glance,  that  as  in  all  like  quarrels,  some  wrong  had 
been  committed  on  both  sides,  and  turn  whichever  way  he 
would,  his  conduct  would  be  open  to  misinterpretation  and 
even  censure. 

Upon  arriving  at  Carthage,  he  found  a  force  of  twelve  hun- 
dred militia  assembled  from  the  counties  of  Hancock,  McDon- 
ough,  and  Schuyler,  under  command  of  Col.  Levi  Williams. 
The  governor  found  the  populace  exceedingly  hostile.  The 
refusal  of  Smith  to  be  arrested  constituted  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  complaints  brought  against  the  Mormons,  who  were 
charged  with  the  crimes  of  kidnapping,  robbery,  and  larceny. 
Public  meetings  had  been  held,  at  which  inflammatory  speeches 
were  made  against  the  obnoxious  sect,  and  resolutions  adopted 
in  favor  of  their  expulsion  from  the  State,  or  extermination. 
On  the  other  hand,  these  charges  were  denied  by  the  accused, 
who  raised  the  cry  of  "persecution"  against  their  opponents. 

Gov.  Ford  dispatched  a  force  of  ten  men  with  a  constable  to 
Nauvoo  for  the  purpose  of  making  arrests.  The  officer  was 
directed  to  inform  Smith  and  the  other  defendants,  that  if  they 
surrendered  they  should  be  protected  from  violence  and  have  a 
fair  trie! — in  which  assurance  the  assembled  force  concurred. 
They  were  to  be  informed  further  that  if  they  refused  to  give 
themselves  up,  the  entire  militia  of  the  State  would  be  called 
out  to  compel  their  submission. 

The  mayor  and  common  council,  upon  hearing  from  the 
governor,  at  once  signified  their  willingness  to  surrender,  on  the 
charge  of  riot  upon  which  the  warrants  had  been  issued,  not  to 
the  constable,  however,  but  to  the  authorities  at  Carthage,  where 
they  arrived  on  June,  23,  1844,  and  having  entered  into  recogni- 
zance before  the  justice  of  the  peace  for  their  appearance  at 
court,  were  all  discharged,  except  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith, 
against  whom  a  new  writ  had  been  issued  on  com  laint  of 
treason.  Upon  being  again  arrested,  neither  party  being  ready 
for  trial,  they  were  committed  to  the  county  jail  for  greater 
security.  The  governor  was  urged  to  march  the  militia  to 
Nauvoo  for  the  purpose  of  searching  for  counterfeit  money 
and  to  prevent,  by  intimidation,  any  further  depredations  on 


THE   PROPHET'S   INCARCERATION   AND   DEATH.  483 

the  part  of  the  Mormons,  it  being  hoped  that  in  this  way  a 
collision  might  be  provoked.  But  the  executive,  although  at 
first  inclining  to  favor  such  a  movement,  being  further  advised, 
decided  against  it,  and  ordered  the  disbandment  of  all  the 
troops  except  three  companies,  two  of  which  he  ordered  to 
guard  the  jail,  one  of  these — the  Carthage  Grays — being  under 
command  of  R.  F.  Smith,  the  justice  who  had  issued  the 
warrants  upon  which  the  arrests  had  been  made.  Having 
already  despatched  Capt.  James  W.  Singleton  of  Brown  County 
with  his  company  to  guard  Nauvoo,  and  to  take  command  of 
the  "legion,"  leaving  Gen.  Minor  R.  Deming  in  command  at 
Carthage,  the  governor  with  Col.  Nathaniel  Buckmaster,  quar- 
termaster-general, and  Capt.  Dunn's  company  of  dragoons, 
departed  for  the  Mormon  city,  eighteen  miles  distant,  to  in- 
vestigate the  condition  of  affairs  at  that  point. 

The  tragic  termination  of  the  life  of  the  prophet  was  now 
near  at  hand.  Although  the  military  posse  had  consented 
to  save  the  persons  of  the  five  prisoners  from  violence,  so 
intense  was  the  popular  antipathy  to  the  Mormons,  and  so 
bitter  the  prejudice  —  always  stronger  than  reason  or  judg- 
ment— that  nothing  but  the  letting  of  blood  could  appease 
the  wrath  of  the  people.  What  the  mob  desired  was  a  hostile 
encounter,  and  when  it  was  found  that  the  action  of  the  gover- 
nor would  avoid  the  clash  of  arms,  there  were  deep  if  not  loud 
mutterings  againt  the  lives  of  the  Smiths.  The  charge  of  treason, 
upon  which  they  were  confined,  was  evidently  a  mere  pretext  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  their  persons  in  Carthage;  and  it  is  sur- 
prising that  the  governor,  knowing  the  hatred  with  which  they 
were  regarded,  did  not  share  in  the  suspicion  of  Col.  Buckmas- 
ter and  others  that  an  attack  would  be  made  upon  the  jail 
during  his  absence. 

About  eight  miles  from  Carthage,  on  the  27th  day  of  June,  a 
portion  of  the  disbanded  militia  was  met  by  a  force  from  War- 
saw. An  angry  consultation  ensued  regarding  the  situation. 
The  absence  of  the  governor  from  Carthage,  the  fact  that  the 
jail  was  only  protected  by  one  company — the  other  having  dis- 
banded— that  a  majority  of  the  guard  would  prove  favorable  to 
their  design,  were  all  well  considered,  and  the  plot  was  formed 
to  attack  the  jail  and   assassinate  the  Smiths.     One  hundred 


4&4  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

and  fifty  desperate  men  were  selected  for  this  purpose,  who 
disguised  themselves  by  blackening  their  faces  with  powder  and 
mud  and  rushed  on  toward  the  county-seat.  Arriving  there  at 
five  o'  clock  p.m.,  it  was  learned  that  but  eight  men  had  been 
detailed  to  guard  the  prisoners,  while  the  remainder  of  the  com- 
pany was  stationed  in  the  public  square,  a  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  distant.  Gen.  Deming,  although  he  could  not  fail  to  see 
what  was  going  on,  having  been  deserted  by  a  portion  of  his 
troops,  had  no  force  upon  which  he  could  depend,  and  was 
compelled  to  retire  from  the  scene. 

In  the  meantime,  the  prisoners  passed  a  gloomy  day  full  of 
forebodings  of  evil  to  come.  Joseph  Smith  was  not  without  his 
premonitions  of  the  coming  catastrophe.  On  leaving  Nauvoo 
he  said,  "If  I  don't  come  back,  take  care  of  yourselves.  I  am 
going  like  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  but  I  am  calm  as  a  summer 
morning.  I  shall  die  innocent,  and  it  shall  be  said  of  me  'he 
was  murdered  in  cold  blood.' '  The  friends  who  had  called 
upon  him  during  the  day  were  not  permitted  to  return.  The 
time  passed  slowly,  and  a  remarkable  depression  of  spirits  was 
upon  all  the  prisoners.  They  endeavored  to  cheer  themselves 
by  drinking  wine  and  by  singing  hymns,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
The  sound  of  the  last  song  had  hardly  died  away  when  they 
heard  a  commotion  on  the  outside.  Their  hour  had  come. 
Several  shots  were  fired  by  the  guard,  but  their  feeble  resist- 
ance was  soon  overcome.  The  front  door  of  the  jail  was 
burst  open,  and  the  narrow  stairway  which  led  to  the  prisoners' 
room  was  filled  with  armed  men.  Arriving  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs,  the  assailants  fired  a  volley  through  the  door  into  the 
prisoners'  apartment,  and  Hyrum  Smith  fell  dying  to  the  floor. 
Joseph  had  been  furnished  with  a  revolver  which  he  used  with 
effect,  wounding  three  of  the  attacking  party.  John  Taylor 
received  four  wounds,  but  the  prophet  and  Dr.  Willard  Richards 
were  as  yet  untouched.  The  door  was  soon  forced  open,  how- 
ever, when  Smith,  though  now  severely  wounded,  sought  to 
escape  through  the  open  window.  But  the  relentless  mob  was 
below  as  well  as  around  him,  and  while  clinging  to  the  sill  a 
discharge  of  musketry  brought  him  headlong  to  the  ground, 
exclaiming  "O  Lord,  my  God."  To  make  their  work  doubly 
sure  he  was  placed  against  a  well-curb  and  riddled  with  balls. 


INCREASING   DISORDER   IN    HANCOCK   COUNTY.  485 

Thus  perished  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  figures  in  the 
first  half  of  the  present  century  of  American  history.  His 
mental  capacity  was  larger  than  most  of  his  hostile  biographers 
have  been  willing  to  concede.  His  character  presented  many 
incongruities.  While  endowed  with  a  masterful  will,  he  was 
dominated  by  no  less  powerful  passions  ;  and  while  his  faith  in 
his  own  powers  as  a  seer  and  leader  of  men  was  unquestionably 
strong,  he  lacked  the  sound  judgment  necessary  to  enable  him 
to  reap  the  full  fruition  of  his  hopes  and  schemes.  His  contem- 
poraries pronounced  him  coarse,  ignorant,  and  unprincipled — a 
self-seeking  impostor,  the  most  charitable  characterizing  him  as 
a  deluded  fanatic.  But  to  his  followers,  who  believed  him  a 
truly  inspired  prophet,  he  was  an  idol  while  living,  and  his 
memory  yet  remains  an  object  of  veneration.  His  assassina- 
tion, while  deplored  by  all  good  citizens,  served  to  place  him 
upon  a  pinnacle  of  fame  which  he  could  never  have  reached 
had  his  murderers  left  him  to  be  overtaken  by  either  judicial 
punishment  or  natural  death. 

The  untimely  and  violent  death  of  the  Smiths,  so  far  from 
putting  an  end  to  the  existing  difficulties  between  the  Mormons 
and  citizens,  only  served  to  aggravate  them,  and  add  to  the 
already  serious  embarrassments  of  the  governor.  The  unwel- 
come news  of  the  breach  of  faith  resulting  in  the  catastrophe  at 
Carthage  reached  his  excellency  when,  having  completed  his 
visit  at  Nauvoo,  he  had  proceeded  about  two  miles  on  his  re- 
turn from  that  city. 

Being  satisfied  that  he  could  not  with  any  hope  of  success 
place  himself  at  the  head  of  either  the  Mormon  or  anti-Mor- 
mon party,  both  of  whom  had  violated  the  law,  and  who  irrec- 
oncilably hated  each  other,  he  had  determined  to  raise  an  inde- 
pendent force  outside  of  either,  upon  whom  he  might  rely  to 
restore  order  and  peace.  With  this  end  in  view,  after  visiting 
Carthage,  and  reinstating  Gen.  Deming  in  command  and  quiet- 
ing affairs  there  as  best  he  could,  he  proceeded  to  Ouincy.  On 
the  road  to  that  city  he  heard  of  bodies  of  militia  from  the 
counties  of  Brown  and  McDonough  who  had  been  ordered  out 
in  his  name,  but  without  his  knowledge,  whose  march  to  Carth- 
age he  countermanded,  and  who  thereupon  returned  home. 

In  the  meantime  the  antagonism  between  the  "Saints"  and 


486  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

the  Gentiles,  as  the  Mormons  called  all  those  who  disagreed 
with  them,  increased  in  bitterness  and  violence.  A  blind  fanati- 
cism, aggravated  by  a  spirit  of  revenge  for  the  killing  of  the 
prophet,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  hatred  of  a  mad  and  furious 
populace,  already  infuriated  by  the  taste  of  blood,  on  the  other, 
made  all  attempts  toward  reconciling  the  contending  parties 
and  terminating  the  internecine  strife  unavailing.  Midnight 
attacks,  the  burning  of  houses,  depredations  by  marauding 
bands,  and  retaliatory  outrages,  followed  on  either  side  in  rapid 
succession.  The  days  were  filled  with  turmoil  and  the  nights 
with  terror,  with  the  din  of  predatory  warfare. 

At  length  it  was  determined  by  the  anti-Mormon  leaders  to 
make  the  effort  to  expel  their  hated  foes  from  the  State  by 
force.  Preparations  were  accordingly  concluded  in  the  fall  of 
1844  for  the  assembling  of  several  thousand  citizens  on  the 
pretext  of  a  wolf-hunt,  with  arms,  ammunition,  and  provisions, 
for  a  six-days  campaign.  The  governor  being  advised  of  the 
movement,  upon  consultation  with  the  attorney- general  and 
others,  directed  Gen.  John  J.  Hardin,  and  Cols.  Baker,  Meriman, 
and  Weatherford,  with  a  force  of  four  hundred  men,  to  proceed 
to  Hancock  County,  for  the  purpose  of  repressing  the  disturb- 
ances. The  governor  complained  that  he  was  compelled  to 
appeal  to  leading  whigs  for  that  assistance  and  support  which 
his  own  political  friends  hesitated  to  render. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  State  militia,  the  malcontents  aban- 
doned their  intended  raid,  and  those  already  collected  dispersed. 
Attempts  were  made  to  apprehend  some  of  the  leading  parti- 
sans who  were  accused  of  the  murder  of  the  Smiths,  which 
ultimately  resulted  in  their  arrest  or  voluntary  surrender.  A 
travesty  upon  justice  ensued  in  the  form  of  their  trial  and  ac- 
quittal in  the  summer  of  1845.  Such  was  the  distracted  condi- 
tion of  society  in  Hancock  County  at  this  time  that  the  admin- 
istration of  the  law,  especially  of  the  criminal  code,  was  an 
impossibility.  Indeed,  the  very  forms  of  civil  government  had 
been  superseded,  law  and  order  had  ceased,  and  the  community 
was  practically  in  a  state  of  anarchy. 

In  the  winter  of  1845-6,  Gen.  Hardin  was  once  more  called 
upon  by  the  governor  to  aid  in  suppressing  the  disorders  in  the 
unruly  district.    Having  raised  a  force  of  three  hundred  men,  he 


CAMPAIGN  AGAINST   NAUVQO.  487 

proceeded  again  to  Carthage,  where,  after  numerous  attempts  to 
bring  the  unnatural  conflict  to  a  close,  an  agreement  was  finally 
concluded  by  which  the  greater  portion  of  the  Mormons  volun- 
tarily bound  themselves  to  remove  from  the  State  in  the  spring 
of  1846;  and  by  the  middle  of  May  it  was  estimated  that  six- 
teen thousand  had  crossed  the  Mississippi  on  their  way  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

The  anti-Mormons,  however,  were  determined  not  to  rest 
satisfied  until  the  last  one  of  their  detested  enemies  had  left 
the  country.  Contrary  to  a  later  agreement,  those  of  the  Mor- 
mons who  remained,  a  sufficient  number  to  control  the  result, 
voted  at  the  August  election;  and  feeling  that  they  were  under 
superior  obligation  to  the  democratic  party  for  favors  shown 
them,  supported  its  ticket,  and  the  more  strikingly  to  evince 
their  gratitude,  it  was  claimed,  they  voted  three  or  four  times 
each  for  that  party's  candidate  for  congress.  This  mad  course 
raised  the  anger  of  the  whigs  to  fever  heat.  The  service  early 
in  August  of  another  writ  upon  some  citizens  of  Nauvoo  and 
their  arrest  by  a  special  constable  being  again  resisted,  the 
posse  comitatus  was  again  called  out,  which  soon  numbered 
several  hundred  men.  To  meet  this  action,  the  Mormons,  hav- 
ing sworn  out  writs  for  the  arrest  of  leading  Gentiles,  summoned 
a.  posse  of  Mormons  to  execute  these  also.  "Here,"  says  Gov. 
Ford,  "was  writ  against  writ;  constable  against  constable;  law 
against  law;  and  posse  against  posset 

While  the  respective  factions  were  preparing  for  active  opera- 
tions, M.  Brayman  as  the  agent  of  the  Governor  proceeded  in 
September  to  Nauvoo,  and  was  successful  in  effecting  an  adjust- 
ment by  which  the  Mormons  agreed  to  surrender  their  arms, 
and  remove  from  the  State,  in  two  months.  But  this  was  not 
satisfactory  to  a  portion  of  the  anti-Mormon  force,  and  was 
rejected.  Gen.  Singleton,  Col.  Chittenden,  and  others  of  the 
anti-Mormon  camp,  disgusted  at  this  determination,  withdrew. 
Thereupon  one  Thomas  S.  Brockman,  from  Brown  County,  was 
placed  in  command.  Gov.  Ford  describes  the  new  leader  as  "a 
large,  awkward,  uncouth,  ignorant,  semi-barbarian,  ambitious  of 
office,  and  bent  upon  acquiring  notoriety."  However  this  may- 
be, Brockman,  on  September  10,  promptly  marched  his  com- 
mand, now  numbering  eight  hundred,  against  the  Mormon  city. 


488  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The  force  of  Mormons  and  their  allies  was  about  250.  The 
latter  took  up  a  position  a  mile  east  of  the  temple,  and  threw 
up  some  breastworks.  Brockman  stationed  his  posse  about  half 
a  mile  distant,  and  began  the  attack.  Cannon  and  rifle  balls 
filled  the  air  for  awhile,  but  at  so  safe  a  distance,  and  aimed 
with  so  little  precision,  that  the  resulting  casualties  were  slight. 
Retiring  on  the  second  day  for  want  of  ammunition,  he  soon 
returned  and  resumed  the  attack,  which  continued  for  several 
days;  the  losses  being,  on  the  side  of  the  Mormons,  two  killed 
and  four  wounded;  and  on  the  side  of  the  Antis,'  eleven 
wounded — one  mortally. 

The  intervention  of  a  deputation  of  citizens  from  Ouincy, 
one  hundred  strong,  put  an  end  to  the  war.  The  Mormons 
were  induced  to  submit  to  such  terms  as  the  posse  chose  to 
dictate.  These  were,  without  any  mitigating  conditions  —  to 
surrender  their  arms,  and  immediately  remove  from  the  State. 
The  redoubtable  Brockman,  with  his  victorious  command,  now 
marched  into  the  city  with  flying  colors,  to  the  admiration  of  a 
large  crowd,  and  took  possession.  The  leaders  of  the  posse 
held  despotic  sway.  They  not  only  determined  who  should 
depart,  and  who  remain,  ordering  the  removal  of  many  on  a 
few  hours  notice,  but  also  assumed  to  expel  a  portion  of  the 
new  citizens,  who  had  bought  out  the  removing  Mormons  the 
previous  spring. 

The  inhabitants  were  treated  as  those  of  a  conquered  city, 
and  the  proceedings  culminated  in  leaving  a  company  in  posses- 
sion, under  whose  autocratic  domination  it  was  placed.  Their 
reign,  however,  was  short,  and  the  governor  was  highly  com- 
mended, for  sending  a  company  from  Springfield  to  Nauvoo, 
October  28,  who  reestablished  law  and  order,  and  restored  to 
their  homes  some  sixty  families  of  expelled  citizens. 

The  great  body  of  Mormons  who  removed  in  the  spring  of 
1846,  after  numerous  hardships,  wintered  near  Council  Bluffs. 
In  the  spring  they  proceeded  on  their  journey,  having  sent  in 
advance  a  pioneer  party  in  charge  of  Brigham  Young.  On 
July  21,  1847,  they  reached  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake, 
then  a  part  of  Mexico,  where  they  once  more  established  them- 
selves, and  where,  and  in  the  adjacent  territories,  they  have 
since  remained. 


THE   MEXICAN   WAR.  489 

The  assassination  of  Joseph  Smith,  and  the  expulsion  of 
the  Mormons  from  this  State,  including  many  thousands  of 
innocent  women  and  children,  can  not  be  justified  on  any  prin- 
ciple of  natural  equity  or  just  government.  Their  unwelcome 
presence,  made  so  by  the  offensive  conduct  of  their  leaders,, 
however  intolerable,  ought  not  to  have  subjected  them,  as  a 
body,  to  evictional  proceedings.  High-handed  and  indefensible 
as  these  measures  were,  however,  they  proved  to  be  beneficial 
to  the  Mormons  rather  than  injurious.  While  what  they  claimed 
to  be  religious  persecution  bound  them  together  more  closely, 
it  spread  abroad  their  fame  over  the  whole  civilized  world, 
bringing  them  in  return  sympathy  and  recruits. 

Their  subsequent  history,  with  its  story  of  unparalleled  pros- 
perity, their  marvellous  increase  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  power, 
their  controversy  with  the  United  States  in  reference  to  the 
allied  questions  of  polygamy  and  local  government,  does  not, 
however,  fall  within  the  scope  of  a  history  of  this  State,  over 
which  for  a  time  their  settlement  cast  a  sombre  shadow.  These 
subjects  are  therefore  relegated  to  the  domain  of  the  general 
historian.* 

The  war  with  Mexico,  which  was  begun  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Gov.  Ford,  being  an  event  of  national  rather  than  of 
state  importance,  will  be  mentioned  in  these  pages  only  so  far 
as  relates  to  the  volunteers  from  Illinois,  with  a  glance  at  their 
services  in  the  field,  and  a  brief  summary  of  general  results. 

The  annexation,  on  March  I,  1845,  to  the  United  States,  of 
Texas,  which  formerly  belonged  to  Mexico,  and  was  still  claimed 
as  a  part  of  its  territory,  was  regarded  by  the  latter  republic 
as  a  virtual  declaration  of  war  between  the  two  nations;  and 
the  occupation  of  the  Rio  Grande  by  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor,  with 
an  army  four  thousand  strong,  in  March,  1846,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  President  Polk,  was  considered  by  the  Mexicans  as  the 
actual  commencement  of  hostilities. 

*  Authorities. — Ford's  "History  of  Illinois;"  "History  of  Mormonism,"  by  E. 
D.  Howe;  "Rise  and  Progress  of  Mormonism,"  by  P.  Tucker;  "History  of  the 
Mormons,"  by  Samuel  M.  Smucker;  "Life  of  Joseph  Smith,"  by  Edward  W.  Tul- 
lidge;  "An  Address  to  all  Believers  in  Christ,"  by  David  Whitmer,  1881;  "The 
Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  by  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse;  two  volumes  of  "  Mormon  Pam- 
phlets," in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society;  "The  Mormon  Bible;"  "Manuscript 
of  Solomon  Spaulding  and  the  Book  of  Mormon,"  by  James  H.  Fairchild,  in  "Mag. 
of  Western  History,"  IV,  30. 


490  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

On  April  24,  a  party  of  sixty-three  American  dragoons  under 
command  of  Capt.  Seth  B.  Thornton,  sent  out  to  observe  the 
movements  of  Gen.  Mariano  Arista,  was  surprised  and  attacked 
by  a  body  of  Mexican  lancers,  on  the  river  Rio  Grande,  about 
thirty  miles  above  Matamoras,  and  compelled  to  surrender 
after  the  loss  of  sixteen  men.  Three  days  after  the  intelli- 
gence of  this  disastrous  collision  had  reached  Washington, 
Congress,  on  May  13,  passed  an  act  declaring  that  by  "the 
act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico"  a  state  of  war  existed  between 
that  government  and  the  United  States;  and  authorizing  the 
President  to  accept  the  services  of  50,000  volunteers,  and 
appropriating  $10,000,000  to  carry  on  the  war.  Illinois  was 
called  upon  to  furnish  three  regiments  of  infantry,  for  twelve 
months'  service,  for  the  raising  of  which  Gov.  Ford  issued  his 
call  on  May  25.  The  response  was  prompt  and  enthusiastic — 
the  first  to  volunteer  being  Gen.  John  J.  Hardin  of  Jackson- 
ville. Thirty-five  companies  were  reported  to  the  governor  in 
ten  days,  and  as  many  more  were  asking  to  be  accepted  before 
these  had  been  organized.  The  troops  rendezvoused  at  Alton, 
under  the  direction  of  Judge  James  Shields,  who,  at  that  time 
commissioner  of  the  land-office,  had  been  appointed  a  brigaoxer- 
general.  Here  the  organization  of  the  different  regiments  was 
perfected,  and  they  were  mustered  into  the  United  States  ser- 
vice by  Col.  afterward  Gen.  Sylvester  Churchill. 

Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  then  a  member  of  congress  from  the 
Springfield  district,  having  been  authorized  to  raise  an  addi- 
tional regiment,  had  only  to  select  the  required  number  of  com- 
panies from  those  already  tendered,  in  order  at  once  to  fill 
its  ranks. 

Under  a  second  call  for  troops  on  April  19,  1847,  two  addi- 
tional regiments  were  organized  and  sent  to  the  field  from 
Illinois;  being  the  First  and  Second  in  which  the  men  were 
enlisted  to  serve  during  the  war,  but  generally  denominated  the 
Fifth  and  Sixth. 

Independent  companies  were  also  organized  and  accepted  — 
commanded  by  Captains  Adam  Dunlap  of  Schuyler  County; 
Wyatt  B.  Stapp  of  Warren  County;  Michael  K.  Lawler  of 
Shawneetown;  and  Josiah  Little;  besides  these  about  150  I  111— 
noisans  enlisted  in  the  regular  army. 


MEXICAN    WAR. 


491 


OFFICERS   OF   ILLINOIS   VOLUNTEERS   IN   MEXICAN   WAR: 
First  Regiment  (12  months);  served  from  June,  1846,  to  June  17,  1847: 


COLONELS 

John  J.  Hardin,  killed  at  Buena  Vista. 
William  Weatherford,  from  Feb.  26. 

LIEUT. -COLONELS 

William  Weatherford. 

William  B.  Warren,  from  Feb.  26. 

MAJORS 

William  B.  Warren. 

William  A.  Richardson,  from  Feb.  26. 

ADJUTANTS 
Benjamin  M.  Prentiss,  promoted. 
William  H.  L.  Wallace,  from  Sept.  '46. 

SURGEONS 
James  H.  White,  transferred. 
C.  Pay  ton. 

QUARTERMASTERS 

John  Scanland. 
William  Erwin. 


CAPTAINS 


F 

C 

D 

A 

H 

K 

I 

E 

E 

B 

B 

G 

D 


Albion  T.  Crow.  J 

Noah  Fry. 
John  L.  McConnell. 
James  D.  Morgan,  Feb.  '47. 
Samuel  Montgomery. 
Lyman  Mower. 
Benj.  M.  Prentiss,  Sept.  '46. 
Win.  A.  Richardson,  pro. 
Geo.  W.  Robertson,  Feb. '47, 
Michael  P.  Smith,  Nov.  '46, 
Elisha  Wells. 
William  J.  Wyatt. 
Jacob  W.  Zabriskie, 
killed  at  Buena  Vista. 


o  Daviess 

Greene 

Morgan 

Adams 

Scott 

Cook 

Adams 

Schuyler 

Schuyler 

Cook 

Cook 

Morgan 

Morgan 


FIRST  LIEUTENANTS 

D  Samuel  R.  Black. 

K  William  Erwin,  A.  A.  Q.  M. 

H  Hezekiah  Evans,  wounded  at  B.  V. 

Wm.  Y.  Henry,  adjt.  to  Warren's  bat. 

B  Patrick  Higgins. 

I  Edmund  S.  Holbrook. 

H  Bryan  R.  Houghton,  killed  at  15.  V. 

D  John  L.  McConnell,  pro. 

E  Allen  Persinger. 

I  Benjamin  M.  Prentiss,  pro. 

C  William  C.  Rainey. 

E  George  W.  Robertson,  pro. 

B  Michael  P.  Smith,  pro. 

E  John  Scanland,  A.  A.  Q.  M. 

G  James  H.  Weatherford. 

SECOND   LIEUTENANTS 

F  Robert  C.  Buzan. 

C  Solomon  S.  Chester. 

B  William  A.  Clark. 

A  Geo.  T.  M.  Davis,  aid  to  Gen.  Shields. 

D  James  E.  Dunlap. 

A  James  Evans. 

H  Thomas  H.  Flynn. 

D  Nathan  D.  Hatfield. 

D  John  L.  McConnell,  pro.,  wounded 

at  Buena  Vista. 

E  John  T.  May. 

K  Matthew  Moran. 

E  George  S.  Myers. 

K  Samuel  S.  Parsons. 

I  John  Reddick. 

H  Thomas  R.  Roberts. 

F  Francis  Ryan. 

I  William  H.  L.  Wallace,  adjutant. 

C  Joshua  C.  Winters. 

G  James  M.  Wood. 

G  Isaac  S.  Wright. 

B  E.  B.  Zabriskie,  transf.,  aid  to  Shields. 


Second  Regiment  (12  months);  served  from  June,  1846,  to  June  18,  1847: 


COLONEL 

William  H.  Bissell. 

LIEUT. -COLONEL 

James  L.  D.  Morrison. 

MAJOR 

Xerxes  F.  Trail. 

ADJUTANT 

Augustus  G.  WThitesides,  wounded  at  B. 

SURGEON 

Edward  B.  Price. 

QUARTERMASTER 

George  W.  Prickett. 


CAPTAINS 

C  James  W.  Baker,  wounded  at  B.  V. 

A  Elzey  C.  Coffey,  Washington 

wounded  at  Buena  Vista. 

B  Anderson  P.  Corder,  from  Feb.  '47. 

F  John  S.  Hacker.  Union 

G  Joseph  K.  Lemen.  St.  Clair 

E  Peter  Lott,  after  Sept.  14.      Madison 

I  Maddison  Miller.  Monroe 

H  Julius  Raith.  St.  Clair 

K"  Charles  L.  Starbuck,  from  Feb.  '47. 

B  Henry  L.  Webb,  resigned  Nov.  '46. 

D  Erastus  Wheeler.  Madison 

K  William  Woodard,  killed  at  B.  V. 


492 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


FIRST   LIEUTENANTS 

B  John  Bartleson,  killed  at  Buena  Vista. 

F  Sidney  S.  Condon. 

C  Turner  R.  DeButts. 

K  Nathaniel  B.  Dilhorn. 

C  Edward  F.  Fletcher,  killed  at  B.  V. 

G  Jacob  C.  Hinckley,  act'g  adjutant. 

A  Harvey  Nevill. 

H  Nathaniel  Niles,  transf.  to  Texas  co. 

D  George  W.  Prickett,  A.  A. 

E  John  A.  Prickett,  wounded  at  B.  V. 

B  John  W.  Rigby. 

I  Augustus  G.  Whiteside,  adjutant. 

SECOND   LIEUTENANTS 

B  Aaron  Atherton,  killed  at  Buena  Vista 

C  John  Brown,  wounded  at  Buena  Vista 

E  James  Catron. 

A  Jackson  Dennis. 

H  Adolphus  Engleman,  w'nded  at  B.  V. 

C  Rodney  Ferguson,  killed  at  B.  V. 

D  Joel  Foster. 


B  James  M.  Gaunt. 

F  Alfonso  Grammar. 

B  Timothy  Kelly,  killed  at  Buena  Vista. 

G  Gilbert  P.  McFarland,  act'g  adjutant. 

E  Aston  Madeira. 

F  Joseph  Martin. 

G  Andrew  J.  Miller. 

B  William  Price,  killed  at  Buena  Vista. 

K  John  D.  Rees. 

D  William  B.  Reynolds. 

C  Lauriston  Robbins,  killed  at  B.  V. 

A  Allan  B.  Rountree,  killed  at  B.  V. 

A  William  B.  Rountree. 

Isaac  N.  Selby,  died  at  San  Antonio, 
Dec.  7,  '46. 

C  James  Smith. 

K  Charles  L.  Starbuck,  pro. 

C  James  C.  Steel,  killed  at  Buena  Vista. 

H  Louis  Stock. 

B  William  W.  Tate. 

I  James  H.  Waddle. 

K  Nichodemus  West,  wounded  at  B.  V. 

I  John  L.  Wilson. 


Third  Regiment  (12  months);  served  from  July,  1846,  to  May  25,  1847: 


COLONEL 
Ferris  Foreman. 

LIEUT. -COLONEL 

William  W.  Wiley. 

MAJOR 

Samuel  D.  Marshall. 

ADJUTANTS 

James  T.  B.  Stapp,  resigned. 
Charles  Everett,  alter  Sept.  '46. 

SURGEONS 
James  Mahan.  J.  Oneal. 

QUARTERMASTERS 

Nathaniel  Parker.  John  S.  Bradford. 


CAPTAINS 

D 

William  W.  Bishop. 

Coles 

F 

John  A.  Campbell. 

B 

James  Freeman. 

Shelby 

I 

Jeduthan  P.  Hardy. 

H 

Stephen  G.  Hicks. 

Jefferson 

G 

Michael  K.  Lawler. 

Gallatin 

C 

James  C.  McAdams, 

Bond 

died  at  Matamoras,  Jan. 

4,  '47- 

K 

Theodore  McGinniss. 

Pope 

E 

Benjamin  E.  Sellers. 

A 

Philip  Stout. 

Fayette 

FIRST   LIEUTENANTS 

D    John  J.  Adams. 

A    James  Boothe. 

H    Lewis  F.  Casey,  resigned  Nov.  1,  '46. 


I  Charles  Coker,  resigned  Oct.  '46. 

F  Samuel  Hooper. 

E  James  M.  Hubbard,  res.  Nov.  '46. 

I  E.  A.  Lasater,  promoted. 

F  Jacob  H.    Love,   died  at  Camargo,. 

Oct.  5,  '46. 

E  Samuel  G.  McAdams. 

B  W.  L.  McNeil,  com'ding  company. 

F  Ephraim  Merritt,  res.  Nov.  28,  '46. 

G  Alex.  W.  Pool,  resigned  Oct.  '46. 

G  Samuel  L.  M.  Proctor. 

C  Thomas  Rose,  com'ding  company, 

severely  wounded  at  Cerro  Gordo. 

A  J.  T.  B.  Stapp,  resigned  Sept.  I,  '46. 

H  William  A.  Thomas. 

K  George  W.  Walker. 

SECOND  LIEUTENANTS 

C  John  Burk. 

C  John  Corlew. 

I  W.  C.  Coons,  resigned  Nov.  '46. 

D  Henry  C.  Dunbar. 

A  Charles  Everett,  jr.,  adjutant. 

B  David  Evey. 

K  Green  B.  Field. 

A  Cyrus  Hall. 

D  Charles  E.  Jones,  died  at  St.  Louis,. 

Mar.  4,  '47. 

H  Thomas  S.  Livingston. 

K  James  McDonald. 

G  James  S.  Rearden. 

E  Isaac  Redfearn. 

I  John  I.  Ritchie. 

G  William  Stricklin.  resigned  Oct.  '46. 
Samuel  J.  R.  Wilson,  res.  Aug.  '46. 


MEXICAN   WAR. 


493 


Fourth  Regiment  (12  months);  served  from  July,  1846,  to  May  29,  1847: 


COLONEL 

Edward  Dickinson  Baker. 

LIEUT. -COLONEL 

John  Moore. 

MA'OR 

/ 

Thomas  L.  Harris. 

ADJUTANT 

William  B.  Fondey. 

QUARTERMASTERS 

James  A.  Barrett.  Joel  S.  Post. 

CAPTAINS 

B  Garrett  Elkin. 

K  John  C.  Hurt. 

G  Edward  Jones.  Tazewell 

H  John  S.  McConkey.  Edgar 

D  Achilles  Morris,  Sangamon 

died  at  Tampico,  Feb.  15,  '47. 

E  Daniel  Newcomb.  DeWitt 

C  Isaac  C.  Pugh,  act'g  field  off'r.  Macon 

H  Horatio  E.  Roberts.  Sangamon 

I  Lewis  W.  Ross.  Fulton 

F  Asa  D.  Wright. 

FIRST   LIEUTENANTS 

A    William  T.  Barrett. 

George  W.  Cowardan,  killed  at  Cerro 
Gordo. 


McLean 
Logan 


G    Leonard  A.  Knott,  died  May  27,  '47. 

Richard   Murphy,   mortally  wounded 

at  Cerro  Gordo;  died  Apr.  20,  '47. 

C     Richard  J.  Oglesby,  com'd'g  company. 

K    Leonard  F.  Ross,  com'd'g  company. 

F     Robert  C.  Scott,  wounded  at  Cerro  G. 

Geo.  W.  Stipp,  resigned  Aug.  1,  '46. 
B     Andrew  J.  Wallace,  died  at  Camargo, 

Oct.  6,  '46. 
B     James  M.  Withers,  res.  Oct.  20,  '46. 

SECOND    LIEUTENANTS 

H    John  Washington  S.  Alexander. 
A    John  S.  Bradtjrd,  ass't  commissary, 

after  Aug.  '46. 
K    David  A.  Brown. 
D    Alfred  C.  Campbell,  com'd'g  comp'y. 
B    Wm.  L.  Duncan,  com'd'g  company. 
A    William  B.  Fondey,  adjutant. 
D    John  D.  Foster. 
C     Anderson  Froman,  wounded  at  C.  G. 

Benjamin  Howard,  wounded  at  C.  G. 
F     Sheldon  L.  Johnson,  dangerously 

wounded  at  Cerro  Gordo. 
E     Charles  Maltby,  wounded  at  C.  G. 
C    John  P.  Post. 

K    Jas.  L.  Sharp,  resigned  May,  '47. 
H    Albert  F.  Shaw. 

G    William  A.  Tinney,  com'd'g  company 
after  Dec.  '46. 

Elias  B.  Zabriskie,  trans,  to  Hardin's 
regiment. 


Fifth  Regiment  (1st  for  the  war);  served  from  June  8,  1847,  to  Oct.  16,  1848: 

H  James  Hampton.  Jackson 

E  George  W.  Hook.  St.  Clair 

K  Wm.  Kinman,  from  June,  '47.      Pike 

F  Thomas  B.  Kinney.  Cook 

D  John  C.  Moses.  Brown 

I  Franklin  Niles,  d.  in  111.,  July  24,  '47. 

G  Henry  J.  Reed.  LaSalle 

C  Vantrump  Turner.  Marion 


COLONEL 

Edward  W.  B.  Newby. 

LIEUT. -COLONEL 

Henderson  P.  Boyakin. 

MAJOR 

Israel  B.  Donaldson. 

ADJUTANT 

William  H.  Snyder. 

SURGEONS 

Daniel  Turney. 

James  D.  Robinson,  assistant. 

QUARTERMASTER 

Richard  N.  Hamilton. 

CAPTAINS 

I     John  H.  Adams,  promoted,  from 

July,  '47.  Shelby  and  Moultrie 

A    Thomas  Bond.  Clinton 

B    John  M.  Cunningham.       Williamson 


*     FIRST   LIEUTENANTS 

I  John  H.  Adams,  pro. 

K  Manonah  T.  Bostwick. 

B  William  M.  Eubanks,  promoted. 

B  Benjamin  F.  Furlong,  disch.  by  res. 

C  Isham  N.  Haynie. 

D  George  A.  Keith. 

G  Riley  Madison. 

F  Alvan  V.  Morey. 

H  James  I.  Provost. 

A  Henry  Richardson. 

A  John  B.  Roper,  resigned  May  20,  '48. 

E  William  H.  Snyder,  adjutant. 

I  Aaron  D.  Treadway. 

F  Murray  Floyd  Tuley,  res.  Aug.  15,  '48. 


494 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 


SECOND   LIEUTENANTS 

D  Samuel  B.  Alexander. 

E  Robert  Beer,  promoted. 

I  Jacob  Brott. 

E  John  T.  Damron,  died  at  Santa  Fe, 

D  James  H.  Easly.  [Dec.  24,  '47. 

A  Levi  Edmonds. 

F  Richard  N.  Hamilton,  quartermaster. 

K  Constantine  Hicks,  susp.  and  res. 

K  R.  E.  Hicks,  susp.  and  res. 

B  Robert  M.  Hundley. 

F  James  M.  Hunt. 


A  Alexander  H.  Johnson. 

K  William  Kinman,  pro. 

F  John  A.  Knights. 

H  John  Alex.  Logan. 

A  Enoch  Luckey. 

G  Simon  Lundry. 

I  Thomas  McDowell. 

C  Benjamin  F.  Marshall. 

B  Daniel  R.  Pulley. 

G  James  Tebay. 

H  James  Willis. 

C  Levi  Wright. 


Sixth  Regiment  (2d  for  the  war);  served  from  Aug.  3,  1847,  to  July  25,  1848: 

A    Jas.  B.  Hinde,  sergt.-maj.  to  Jan.  '48. 
A    Willis  B.  Holden,  died  at  Jalapa, 

Jan.  2,  '48. 
B     Bushrod  B.  Howard. 
H    Malachi  Jenkins,  died  on  Gulf,  June 

26,  '48. 
K    Daniel  Mooneyham. 
I      Lewis  A.  Norton. 
E    Thomas  Oates,  died  at  San  Juan,  Oct. 

2,  '47- 
G    Edward  O'Melvany. 
E    Thomas  D.  Timony,  died  Apr.  16,  '48. 
F     Frank  Wheeler. 


COLONEL 

James  Collins. 

LIEUT. -COLON  EL 
Stephen  G.   Hicks,  pro.  from  Forman's 
regiment. 

MAJOR 
Thomas  S.  Livingston.         \ 

ADJUTANTS 
Henry  S.  Fitch,  pro.   James  H.  Sampson. 

SURGEON 

John  L.  Miller. 

QUARTERMASTERS 

Elisha  Lewis.  Lewis  A.  Norton. 

CAPTAINS 

E     David  C.  Berry. 

A    James  Bowman,  died  at  Jalapa,  Dec. 

28,  '47. 
D    John  Bristow. 
H    James  Burns. 

K    John  Ewing,  d.  at  Tampico,  Oct.  3/47. 
D    Henry  S.  Fitch,  Feb.  '48. 
I      Edward  E.  Harvey,  died  at  Puebla, 

Mar.  19,  '48. 
C     Harvey  Lee. 
K    Thomas  J.  Mooneyham,  1st  lieut.  to 

April,  '48. 
G    John  M.  Moore. 

James  R.   Pierce,  died  at  Puebla, 

Mar.  28,  '48. 
A    Levin  H.  Powell,  from  Jan.  '48. 

William  Shepard. 
I      Sewell  W.  Smith,  from  March,  '48. 
B     Calmes  L.  Wright. 

FIRST   LIEUTENANTS 

A    Eli  D.  Anderson,  died  at  Vera  Cruz, 

Sept.  11, '47. 
E    Lyman  Andrews. 
F    John  Bonney,  died  at  San  Juan,  Sept. 

21, '47. 
E     Sylvanus  M.  Goetchius. 
D    Henry  W.  Goode. 
D    John  H.  Hart. 


SECOND    LIEUTENANTS 

A    Jabers  J.  Anderson. 

F    Thomas  J.  Andrews. 

K    William  Bates. 

H    Marquis  L.  Burns. 

D    Lorenzo  E.  Carter. 

I      William  George  Conkling. 

A    Alonzo  H.  Cox. 

C    Jesse  W.  Curlee. 

I      Hugh  Fullerton. 

William  Haywood. 
C     William  J.  Hawkins. 
C     Richard  M.  Hawkins,  died  at  Puebla, 

Mar.  28,  '4S. 
F     Spencer  H.  Hill. 
D    Hampton  Hunter. 
H    Isaac  B.  Jack. 
G    Austin  James. 
G    Thomas  James,  jr. 
A    Jacob  B.  Keller,  resigned. 

Elisha  Lewis,  A.  Q.  M.  and  com. 
H    James  R.  Lynch,  died  at  Vera  Cruz, 

Sept.  12,  '47. 
K    William  P.  Maddox,  died  at  Puebla, 

Mar.  20,  '48. 
K    John  H.  Mulkey. 
A    Hezekiah  B.  Newby,  d.  at  National 

Bridge,  Sept.  16,  '47. 
B     William  A.  Poillon. 
B    James  H.  Sampson,  adjutant. 
F     Lorenzo  D.  VanHook. 
H    Geo.  W.  Walker,  res.  Dec.  17, '47. 
D    John  Wyatt,  resigned. 


MEXICAN   WAR. 


495 


Independent  Companies  of  Illinois  Mounted  Volunteers  for  the  War: 


First,  served  (with  Brig.-Gen.  John  E. 
Wool)  from  May  21/47, to  Nov.  7,  '48 : 

CAPTAIN 

Adam  S.  Dunlap. 

FIRST   LIEUTENANT 

Samuel  Lambert. 

SECOND   LIEUTENANTS 
Simon  Doyle.  Calvin  Jackson. 

Second,  served  (at  Perote,   Mex. )  from 
Aug.  6,  1847,  to  July  26,  1848: 

CAPTAIN 

Wyatt  B.  Stapp. 

FIRST  LIEUTENANT 
George  C.  Lamphere. 

SECOND   LIEUTENANTS 

John  G.  Fonda.  John  M.  Mitchell. 

George  W.  Palmer,  resigned. 


Third,  served  (with  Brig.-Gen.  Wool) 
from  Aug.  13,  1847,  to  Oct.  26,  1848: 

captain 
Michael  K.  Lawler. 

FIRST   LIEUTENANT 

Walter  S.  Clark. 

SECOND    LIEUTENANTS 

Sam'l  L.  M.  Proctor.     John  G.  Ridgway. 

Fourth,  served  (at  Rio  Frio,   Mexico) 
from  Sept.  13,  1847,  to  Julv  25»  1848: 

CAPTAIN 

Josiah  Littell. 

FIRST   LIEUTENANTS 

Charles  P.  Hazard,  died  Oct.  '47. 
Thomas  S.  Buck. 

SECOND   LIEUTENANTS 

Josiah  Caswell,  jr.  Robert  S.  Green. 


The  opening  battle  of  the  war  was  that  of  Palo  Alto,  May  8, 

1846,  and  the  struggle  was  virtually  ended  with  the  surrender 
of  the  City  of  Mexico,  Sept.  16,  1847.  The  troops  from  Illinois 
left  Alton  between  July  17  and  22,  and  arrived  in  Mexico  early 
in  August.  The  First  and  Second  regiments,  commanded  respec- 
tively by  Colonels  John  J.  Hardin  and  Wm.  H.  Bissell,  were 
attached  to  the  army  of  the  centre  under  Gen.  Taylor.  They 
participated  in  the  well-fought  field  of  Buena  Vista,  Feb.  23, 

1847.  The  battle  lasted  the  entire  day,  the  Mexican  army  of 
20,000  commanded  by  Gen.  Santa-Anna,  being  opposed  only 
by  4500  Americans.  The  volunteers  behaved  like  veterans, 
and  it  was  to  their  distinguished  valor  and  stubborn  resistance  of 
repeated  charges  by  overwhelming  numbers,  that  Gen.  Taylor 
owed  his  success  in  holding  the  field  at  the  close  of  the  day's 
bloody  conflict.  Gen.  Taylor,  in  his  report  of  the  battle,  refers 
to  the  services  of  the  Illinois  troops  as  follows:  "The  First 
and  Second  Illinois,  and  the  Kentucky  regiments  served  imme- 
diately under  my  eye,  and  I  bear  a  willing  testimony  to  their 
excellent  conduct  throughout  the  day.  The  spirit  and  gallantry 
with  which  the  First  Illinois  and  Second  Kentucky  engaged  the 
enemy  in  the  morning,  restored  confidence  to  that  part  of  the 
field,  while  the  list  of   casualties  will  show  how   much  these 


496  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

three  regiments  suffered  in  sustaining  the  heavy  charge  of  the 
enemy  in  the  afternoon.  In  this  last  conflict  we  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  sustain  a  very  heavy  loss.  Colonels  Hardin,  McKee, 
and  Lieut-Colonel  Clay  fell  at  this  time,  while  gallantly  lead- 
ing their  commands.  *  *  *  Col.  Bissell,  the  only  surviving 
colonel  of  the  three  regiments,  merits  notice  for  his  coolness 
and  bravery  on  this  occasion."  He  also  makes  honorable  men- 
tion of  Lieut.-Col.  Weatherford,  and  Maj.  Warren  of  the  First, 
and  of  Lieut.-Col.  Morrison,  Maj.  Trail,  and  Adjutant  White- 
side of  the  Second,  regiments.  The  loss  of  the  Americans 
was,  264  killed,  450  wounded,  and  26  missing;  that  of  the 
Mexicans  was  2500.  The  First  regiment  lost  29  killed,  16 
wounded;  the  Second,  62  killed,  69  wounded.  Among  those  of 
the  First  were:  its  gallant  colonel,  Capt.  Jacob  W.  Zabriskie, 
and  Lieut.  Bryan  R.  Houghton,  a  young  lawyer  of  Scott  Coun- 
ty. In  the  Second  fell  Capt.  William  Woodward  and  Lieuts. 
Edward  F.  Fletcher,  John  Bartleson,  Rodney  Ferguson,  Aaron 
Atherton,  Lauriston  Robbins,  Allan  B.  Rountree,  William  Price, 
Timothy  Kelley,  and  James  C.  Steel. 

Col.  Hardin  fell  in  withstanding  the  last  desperate  charge  of 
the  Mexican  reserve.  He  was  the  son  of  Martin  D.  Hardin,  a 
distinguished  soldier  and  statesman  of  Kentucky,  in  which  state 
he  was  born,  at  Frankfort,  Jan.  6,  18 10.  He  was  educated  at 
Transylvania  University,  and  removed  to  Jacksonville  in  1830, 
where  he  entered  upon  a  successful  practice  of  the  law.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  10th,  nth,  and  12th  general  assemblies, 
.and  represented  the  Springfield  district  in  the  28th  congress, 
1843-5.  He  was  the  leading  whig  of  his  State  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  and  no  one  in  it  had  brigher  prospects  before  him 
than  he.  He  was  warm-hearted  and  public  spirited,  popular  in 
his  manners,  an  able  lawyer,  a  speaker  of  rare  power,  and  a 
christian  gentleman.  His  remains  were  brought  home  and 
finally  laid  to  rest  at  Jacksonville  in  July. 

The  Third  and  Fourth  regiments,  commanded  respectively  by 
Cols.  Forman  and  Baker,  were  in  the  brigade  of  Gen.  Shields 
and  participated  in  the  movement  against  Vera  Cruz,  and  there- 
after in  the  campaign  against  the  City  of  Mexico.  Both  of  these 
regiments  distinguished  themselves  in  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo, 
which  was  fought  under  the  eye  of  Gen.  Scott,  April  18,  1847. 


MEXICAN   WAR.  497 

In  making  an  attack  upon  a  battery,  Gen.  Shields,  while  leading 
his  command,  fell  severely,  and  as  was  supposed  at  the  time, 
mortally,  wounded.  Col.  Baker,  succeeding  to  the  command  of 
the  brigade,  gallantly  completed  the  charge  and  routed  the 
enemy.  In  his  report,  honorable  mention  is  made  of  Col.  For- 
man,  Maj.  Harris,  Capt.  Post,  Adjt.  Fondey,  Lieuts.  Hammond, 
and  Geo.  T.  M.  Davis,  for  their  cool  and  gallant  conduct.  The 
loss  of  the  Third  regiment  in  killed  and  wounded  was  16,  that 
of  the  Fourth  48,  among  the  killed  in  the  latter  being  Lieuts. 
Richard  Murphy  and  Geo.  W.  Cowardan. 

Maj. -Gen.  Robert  Patterson,  in  command  of  the  volunteers, 
in  his  report  refers  in  this  complimentary  language  to  these 
regiments  and  their  officers:  "The  enemy's  lines  were  charged 
with  spirit  and  success  by  tie  Third  and  Fourth  Illinois,  and  the 
New-York  regiment  under  their  respective  commanders,  Cols. 
Forman  and  Burnett,  and  Maj.  Harris.  *  *  The  attention 
of  the  general- in-chief  is  particularly  called  to  the  gallantry  of 
Brig. -Gens.  Pillow  and  Shields,  who  were  both  wounded  at  the 
head  of  their  respective  brigades;  and  to  Col.  Baker,  who  led 
Shields'  brigade  during  a  severe  part  of  the  action  and  during 
the  pursuit;  and  Lieut.  G.  T.  M.  Davis,  aide-de-camp  to  Shields' 
brigade." 

Their  term  of  enlistment  having  expired,  these  two  regiments 
were  mustered  out  of  service  at  New  Orleans,  May  25,  and  the 
First  and  Second  regiments  at  Camargo,  June  17,  1847. 

The  Fifth  regiment  under  Col.  Newby,  left  Alton  June  14,  for 
Fort  Leavenworth,  whence  it  was  ordered  to  Santa  Fe.  This 
regiment  suffered  severely  from  hard  marches  and  exposure,  and 
did  good  service,  especially  against  the  Indians,  but  was  not 
called  upon  to  encounter  the  enemy,  the  war  being  about  over 
when  it  reached  its  destination. 

When  the  regiment  was  mustered  out  of  service  by  Gen. 
Churchill  at  Alton,  Oct.  18,  1848,  he  spoke  of  it  as  follows: 

"  It  is  with  much  reluctance  that  I  award  to  any  soldiers  more  credit  for  good, 
orderly,  and  soldier-like  conduct  than  I  have  heretofore  ascribed  to  the  regiments 
commanded  by  the  lamented  Col.  Hardin,  and  the  gallant  Col.  Bissell;  but  I  feel 
constrained  by  a  sense  of  justice  to  say,  that  I  have  never  in  my  life  mustered  a 
regiment  superior  in  sobriety  and  good  order  and  conduct  to  that  I  have  just  been 
engaged  in  mustering  out  of  the  service.  Both  officers  and  men  can  equal  the  finest 
discipline  found  amongst  old  regulars." 

32 


498  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

The  Sixth  regiment,  under  Col.  James  Collins,  was  ordered 
to  Mexico.  At  New  Orleans  it  was  divided,  one  battalion,  in 
command  of  the  colonel,  being  sent  to  Vera  Cruz,  and  the  other, 
under  Lieut. -Col.  Hicks,  being  ordered  to  Tampico.  Except- 
ing some  skirmishes  with  guerillas,  neither  of  these  battalions 
were  engaged  in  the  field,  but  their  losses  through  sickness  and 
death  were  severe.  The  regiment  was  mustered  out  July  25, 
1848.  The  independent  companies,  which  rendered  valuable 
service  against  scouting  parties  and  guerillas,  and  in  garrison, 
were  mustered  out  as  follows:  Capts.  Stapps's  and  Little's 
companies  July  25  and  26;  Capt.  Lawler's  Oct.  26;  and  Dun- 
lap's  Nov.  7,  1848. 

Among  the  volunteers  from  Illinois  whose  military  service 
began  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  who,  although  not  heretofore 
personally  named,  first  flashed  their  sword-blades  against  their 
country's  foes  in  the  land  of  the  Aztecs,  and  who  afterward 
attained  proud  distinction  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  were, 
John  A.  Logan,  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  Benj.  M.  Prentiss,  James 
D.  Morgan,  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  Stephen  G.  Hicks,  Michael  K. 
Lawler,  Leonard  F.  Ross,  Isham  N.  Hayne,  John  Morrill,  T. 
Lyle  Dickey,  John  A.  Prickett,  Dudley  Wickersham,  Isaac  C. 
Pugh,  John  P.  Post,  Nathaniel  Niles,  Adolph  Engleman,  James 
S.  Reardon,  John  S.  Bradford,  Daniel  G.  Burr,  Wm.  J.  Wyatt, 
William  R.  Morrison,  William  H.  Snyder,  William  B.  Fonday, 
Samuel  D.  Marshall,  Julius  Raith,  Jonathan  C.  Winters,  Thomas 
H.  Flynn. 

Many  other  names  might  be  mentioned  of  those  who  subse- 
quently became  distinguished  in  public  life;  among  them,  Wm. 
A.  Richardson,  Peter  Lott,  John  S.  Hacker,  Murray  F.  Tuley, 
Charles  C.  P.  Holden,  a  sergeant  in  the  Fifth  regiment,  and 
Capt.  J.  W.  Hartley  —  the  latter  two  of  whom  are  worthy  of 
special  mention  for  the  part  they  have  taken  in  maintaining  the 
esprit  du  corps  of  their  old  companions  by  keeping  alive  the 
interest  in  their  annual  re-unions.  Mr.  Holden  in  particular  is 
entitled  to  credit  for  the  publication  of  many  valuable  historical 
papers  relating  to  the  war  and  the  services  of  his  regiment  in 
the  field. 

The  total  strength  of  our  army  in  Mexico  was  116,321,  of 
which  number  71,776  were  volunteers,  chiefly  from  the  Western 


MEXICAN-WAR   CASUALTIES. 


499 


and  Southern  States.     The  actual  number  in  service  in  Mexico, 
at  any  one  time,  however,  did  not  exceed  85,000."" 

The  losses  in  the  army  from  June  I,  1846,  to  Jan.  I,  1848,  as 
reported  by  the  adjutant -general,  were  as  follows:  discharged 
from  disability,  5432;  killed  in  battle,  1049;  died  of  wounds,  508; 
died  of  disease,  5987;  deserted,  4925 — total  17,906.  If  we  add 
to  these  numbers  the  subsequent  losses  through  sickness,  and 
the  3000  volunteers  who  disappeared  without  being  accounted 
for,  the  number  would  probably  be  swelled  to  25,000,  of  whom 
20,000  were  supposed  to  have  died."f*  Much  the  heaviest  por- 
tion of  this  loss  fell  upon  the  regular  army.     The  total  number 


*  Table  showing  the  number  c 

f  men 

ind  casualties 

in  the 

regular  and  volunteer 

forces  during  the  war  with  Mexico: 

STATE 

STRENGTH 

KILLED 

DIED   OF 
WOUNDS 

WOUNDED 

Regular  Army,  including  Marines, 

42,545 

536 

408 

2I02 

Volunteers— Alabama,   - 

- 

-     3,026 



Arkansas, 

- 

1,323 

19 

2 

32 

California, 

- 

571 

Florida, 

- 

370 

Georgia,     - 

- 

-     2,132 

6 

.     8 

Illinois, 

- 

6,123 

86 

12 

160. 

Indiana, 

* 

-    4,585 

47 

92. 

Iowa,    - 

- 

253 

Kentucky, 

- 

-     4,842 

78 

4 

105 

Louisiana, 

- 

7,947 

13 

2 

8- 

Maryland  and  D 

C, 

-      i,355 

8 

3 

21 

Massachusetts, 

- 

1,057 

Michigan, 

- 

-      1,103 

Mississippi, 

- 

2,423 

54 

4 

108. 

Missouri,    - 

- 

-      7,oi6 

20 

3 

46 

New  Jersey, 

- 

425 

New  York, 

- 

-      2,396 

24 

19 

156 

North  Carolina, 

- 

935 

Ohio, 

- 

-      5,536 

18 

39 

Pennsylvania,    - 

- 

2,503 

21 

14 

162 

South  Carolina, 

- 

-      1,077 

30 

26 

216 

Tennessee, 

- 

5,865 

43 

6 

129 

Texas, 

- 

-      8,018 

42 

4 

29 

Virginia, 

- 

1,320 

4 

Wisconsin, 

- 

146 

Mormons, 

- 

585 

Remustered, 

Total, 

- 

844 

4 

1 

3 

116,321 

1049 

508 

3420 

+  "The  Mexican  War,"  by  Ed' 

ivard  D 

.  Mansfield. 

500  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

of  officers  killed  and  wounded  was  about  450,  of  which  number 
more  than  half  belonged  to  the  regular  army. 

The  cost  of  the  war  in  dollars  and  cents,  including  the  value 
of  land-warrants  issued  for  pensions  and  the  amount  paid  under 
the  concluding  treaty,  was  estimated  at  the  time  to  be  $166,- 
500,000. 

The  material  results  of  the  war,  through  the  treaty  of  Guada- 
loupe  Hidalgo,  were  the  recognition  by  the  Mexican  Republic 
of  the  southern  boundary  of  Texas,  annexed  in  1845,  and  the 
addition  to  the  United  States  of  522,568  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory, including  the  present  states  of  California  and  Nevada,  Ari- 
zona, except  that  portion  acquired  under  the  Gadsden  purchase, 
New  Mexico,  west  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  north  of  the  Gads- 
den purchase,  Utah,  all  that  portion  of  Colorado  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  south-western  portion  of  Wyoming. 
This  imperial  domain  thus  obtained — described  at  the  time  by 
those  who  were  inclined  to  underestimate  the  acquisition  as  an 
untrodden,  untenanted  wilderness,  hidden  from  the  eye  of  civil- 
ization— a  land  of  rocks  and  rattlesnakes — is  larger  than  the 
original  thirteen  states  and  contains  one  sixth  of  the  present 
area  of  the  United  States,  excluding  Alaska.  It  contains  a 
population  estimated  at  1,200,000,  and  property  valued  at  $1,- 
500,000,000.  The  receipts  of  internal  revenue  from  the  states 
of  California,  Nevada,  and  Colorado,  and  the  territories  of  Utah, 
New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  from  Sept.  1,  1862,  to  July,  1882, 
were  $75,237,498;  and  the  receipts  in  California  from  customs 
from  1850  to  1882  inclusive,  were  $156,873,255,  which  two  sums 
greatly  exceed  any  cost  properly  chargeable  against  the  acquisi- 
tion from  Mexico.  The  mines  of  these  states  and  territories 
have  added  to  the  wealth  of  the  country  nearly  $1,800,000,000 
in  precious  metals;  if  to  this  vast  sum  be  added  the  value  of 
other  mineral  and  agricultural  products,  some  idea  of  the  mate- 
rial benefits  accruing  to  the  nation  therefrom  may  be  formed. 

But  stupendous  as  were  the  material  results  of  the  war,  the 
political  consequences  were  no  less  important.  The  annexation 
of  Texas,  which  was  the  primal  cause  of  the  conflict,  was  a 
democratic  measure;  but  had  its  far-reaching  results  been  fore- 
seen, the  larger  portion  of  that  party,  who  so  strenuously  sup- 
ported it,  would  have  changed  sides  with  an  equal  number  of 
whigs  who  as  vehemently  opposed  it. 


MEXICAN   WAR — COL.  BAKER.  501 

Among  the  minor  fruits  of  the  war  was  the  making  of  the 
political  fortunes  of  a  by  no  means  inconsiderable  number  of 
aspiring  young  statesmen.  The  popular  knee  is  always  ready 
to  bend  in  homage  to  heroism;  to  have  "smelt  powder,"  to 
have  passed  through  the  fiery  smoke  of  battle,  is  a  sure  pass- 
port to  favor;  and  when  to  a  creditable  military  record  is  joined 
a  fair  share  of  native  talent,  the  rough  places  in  the  path  of 
success  are  made  comparatively  smooth.  To  expose  the  scars 
which  the  happy  accident  of  a  Mexican  bullet  had  inflicted, 
opened  many  a  door  of  preferment  which  otherwise  would  have 
remained  forever  closed  to  him  who  knocked  for  admission. 

To  illustrate  the  popular  feeling  in  favor  of  the  war  spirit, 
and  the  odium  attached  to  those  who  ranged  themselves  against 
it,  the  following  story  is  told  of  Justin  Butterfield,  who  had 
opposed  the  War  of  18 12  very  greatly  to  the  hindrance  of  his 
political  aspirations.  When  the  war  with  Mexico  broke  out  some 
one  inquired  of  him,  being  a  whig,  if  he  was  opposed  to  that 
war.  Remembering  his  former  experience,  he  exclaimed,  "No, 
sir;  I  oppose  no  wars.  I  opposed  one  war,  and  it  ruined  me. 
Henceforth  I  am  for  war,  pestilence,  and  famine!"  The  whigs 
generally,  while  opposed  to  the  measure  which  brought  on  the 
war,  did  not  oppose  its  successful  prosecution. 

In  Illinois,  the  following  officers,  who  had  made  meritorious 
records  in  the  war,  some  of  whom  had  already  served  with 
ability  in  civil  positions,  were  rapidly  advanced  in  the  race 
for  civic  honors  on  their  return  home,  namely:  Gen.  Shields  to 
the  United-States  senate,  John  Moore  to  the  State  treasurership, 
Col.  Bissell,  Majors  Richardson  and  Harris,  and  Lieut.  John  A. 
Logan,  to  congress,  and  Lieut.  R.  J.  Oglesby  to  the  State 
senate. 

Col.  Baker,  after  his  return,  at  first  entertained  some  thought 
of  running  for  governor,  as  the  whig  candidate;  but  perceiving 
the  hopelessness  of  such  a  race,  even  with  the  prestige  of  his 
distinguished  military  record  in  his  favor,  he  abandoned  the 
idea,  and  decided  to  remove  to  the  Galena  district,  where  he 
was  nominated  and  elected  to  congress  in  1848. 

Col.  Baker  combined  within  himself  every  attribute  of  a  great 
orator.  Of  medium  height,  his  figure  was  finely  formed  and 
well  rounded.     To  a  presence  which  would  attract  attention  in 


502  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

any  crowd,  was  added  a  voice  of  rare  melody  and  compass. 
His  speeches  abounded  in  flashes  of  wit,  brilliant  flights  of 
genius,  and  touches  of  deep  pathos,  and  were  delivered  with  an 
inimitable  ease  and  grace.  The  ability  with  which  he  held 
these  great  powers  in  hand  was  the  most  remarkable  feature  of 
his  mental  constitution.  His  efforts  made  upon  the  spur  of  the 
moment  were  characterized  by  as  perfect  purity  of  diction,  and 
amplitude  and  logical  arrangement  of  thought  as  though  the 
midnight  oil  had  been  burned  in  their  preparation. 

Alike  on  the  platform,  in  the  court-room,  or  in  legislative 
halls,  his  'eloquence  was  irresistible.  While  lacking  the  solid 
learning  of  Hardin  and  the  cogent  reasoning  powers  of  Lincoln, 
he  excelled  either  in  the  rhetorical  polish  and  classical  elegance 
of  his  orations.  This  triumvirate  of  great  men  had  been  dis- 
solved by  the  death  of  Hardin,  and  Lincoln  was  now  left  alone 
in  the  field  of  their  former  friendly  rivalry.  If  Col.  Baker  was 
vain  of  his  rare  gifts,  and  if  his  business  habits  were  careless 
and  unmethodical,  so  manly  was  his  bearing,  such  was  the 
suavity  of  his  demeanor,  and  such  his  generosity  and  frankness, 
that  these  weaknesses  were  regarded  by  his  friends  as  but  spots 
upon  the  sun.* 

An  important  political  result  of  the  war  was  the  elevation  of 
its  acknowledged  hero,  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor,  to  the  presidency, 
through  which  was  effected  a  radical  change  not  only  in  the 
personnel,  but  also  in  the  policy,  of  the  national  administra- 
tion. 

But  the  most  far-reaching  consequence  of  all  was  the  renewed 
agitation  in  congress  of  that  most  inflammable  of  all  subjects  — 
the  slavery  question — arising  upon  the  introduction  of  bills  to 
organize  newly  acquired  territories.  Out  of  the  controversies 
upon  this  subject,  which  had  been  legislatively  laid  to  rest  since 
1 82 1,  sprang  that  sectional  bitterness  which  ultimately  culmin- 
ated in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  finally  in  the  extirpation 

*  His  subsequent  career — his  removal  to  California,  his  marvelous  success  as  a 
lawyer  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  his  election  to  the  United- States  senate  from 
Oregon — forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  remarkable  pages  of  biographical 
history;  as  his  devotion  to  the  Union  in  its  hour  of  peril,  and  the  self-sacrificing 
devotion  which  led  to  his  early  death  form  one  of  the  saddest  episodes  in  the  annals 
of  the  late  civil  war.  He  was  born  in  London,  England,  on  Feb.  24,  181 1,  and 
fell,  fighting  for  his  adopted  country,  at  Ball's  Bluff,  Oct.  21,  1861. 


GOV.   FORD.  503 

of  human  slavery  from  every  square  foot  of  territory  over  which 
floats  the  American  flag. 

Gov.  Ford  witnessed  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  with 
feelings  of  satisfaction,  rather  than  of  regret.  His  administra- 
tion had  been  a  stormy  one,  full  of  perplexing  and  embarrassing 
situations.  And  although,  as  he  admits,  he  committed  errors, 
and  while  he  failed  to  display  that  energy,  decision,  and  prompt 
action  demanded  at  a  critical  period  in  the  Hancock  County 
disturbances,  he  could  point  with  just  pride  to  the  part  he  had 
taken  in  restoring  the  public  credit,  and  in  placing  the  finances 
of  the  State  upon  a  more  satisfactory  basis.  Having  devoted 
all  his  time  and  best  energies  to  the  discharge  of  public  duties, 
more  onerous  than  those  which  had  devolved  upon  any  of  his 
predecessors,  and  having  been  unable  to  engage  in  any  other 
business,  and  the  meagre  salary  which  he  received  not  having 
been  sufficient  to  support  his  family,  he  left  the  executive  office 
a  bankrupt. 

He  was  the  only  governor  of  the  State  selected  from  the 
bench,  and  although  he  could  scarcely  hope  to  reassume  his 
judicial  position,  he  might  begin  again  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession for  a  living,  which  he  did  at  Peoria;  but  did  not  meet 
with  that  encouragement  and  success  which  his  undoubted 
ability  deserved.  His  remaining  years  were  therefore  princi- 
pally devoted  to  the  preparation  of  a  history  of  Illinois  from 
18 18  to  1847.  This  is  an  invaluable  contribution  to  the  litera- 
ture of  the  State.  Without  much  regard  to  logical  arrange- 
ment of  subjects,  it  abounds  with  important  statements  of  fact, 
and  fairly  bristles  with  original  views  relating  to  politics,  politi- 
cians, and  state-craft.  In  strength  of  expression  and  perspicuity 
of  style,  though  not  always  sustained,  it  ranks  with  the  stand- 
ard histories  of  the  country.*  In  describing  his  contemporaries, 
his  criticisms  are  not  confined  to  the  members  of  his  own  party. 
He  was  a  close  observer  of  passing  events,  but  his  judgment 
of  men,  influenced  as  it  was  by  his  own  strong  feelings,  was 
often  obscured  by  prejudice,  not  infrequently  ill-founded,  and  has 

*  When  John  Walters,  M.  P.,  proprietor  of  the  London  Times,  visited  Chicago, 
he  asked  Mr.  John  B.  Drake,  of  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel,  to  procure  him  a  copy 
of  Ford's  History,  pronouncing  it  a  remarkable  work,  and  stated  that  he  thought 
of  having  it  reprinted  in  London. 


504  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

been  refuted  by  subsequent  events.  Indeed,  in  some  instances, 
his  strictures  were  so  unsparing  and  severe,  as  to  have  been 
considered  libelous  by  the  publishers,  and  were  omitted  from 
the  text.  As  a  writer,  however,  he  has  not  been  excelled  by 
any  of  those  who  have  filled  the  executive  chair. 

With  growing  habits  not  faultless,  his  last  days  were  be- 
clouded with  the  gloom  of  poverty  and  ill-health.  He  died, 
leaving  his  family  destitute,  at  Peoria,  Nov.  3,  1850.  The 
legislature  of  the  following  year  appropriated  $500  for  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

Authorities:  "History  of  the  Mexican  War,"  by  E.  D.  Mansfield;  Gard- 
ners' "Dictionary  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States;"  "The  Other  Side"  or  a  Mexi- 
can History  of  the  War,  translated  by  Alex.  C.  Ramsey;  "  Congressional  and  State 
Documents,  and  Reports;"  "Papers,"  by  Chas.  C.  P.  Holden;  "Review  of  the  Causes 
and  Consequences  of  the  Mexican  War,"  by  William  Jay. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

Administration  of  Gov.  French— Fifteenth  General  Assem- 
bly—  Election  of  Douglas  to  the  United -States  Senate 
—  Election  of  Auditor  and  other  Officers  —  Laws  — 
Progress. 

THE  August  election  of  1846  for  governor,  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, and  members  of  the  general  assembly,  was  the 
last  held  under  the  constitution  of  1818. 

The  candidates  for  nomination  before  the  democratic  con- 
vention, which  was  held  at  Springfield,  Feb.  10,  were  Lyman 
Trumbull,  Augustus  C.  French,  John  Calhoun,  Richard  M. 
Young,  Walter  B.  Scates,  and  Alfred  W.  Cavarly.  The  choice — 
in  accordance  with  a  line  of  precedents,  which  seemed  almost 
to  indicate  a  settled  policy — fell  upon  him  who  had  achieved 
least  prominence  as  a  party  leader,  and  whose  record  as  a 
public  man  had  been  least  conspicuous.  Upon  the  first  ballot, 
Mr.  Trumbull  led  with  56  votes,  to  45  for  French,  44  for  Cal- 
houn, 35  for  Young  and  Scates  each,  and  20  for  Cavarly.  Both 
Trumbull  and  French  steadily  gained  up  to  the  third  ballot, 
when  their  respective  votes  stood  at  74  and  92.  At  this  junc- 
ture, one  by  one,  the  other  candidates  withdrew,  the  last  to 
retire  being  Calhoun.  Trumbull,  quickly  perceiving  that  this 
action  could  not  fail  to  injure  his  chances,  followed  the  exam- 
ple of  his  competitors,  upon  which  French,  thus  left  in  sole 
possession  of  a  deserted  field,  was  promptly  declared  the 
nominee. 

Joseph  B.  Wells,  a  lawyer  from  Rock  Island,  was  nominated 
for  lieutenant-governor,  likewise  on  the  fourth  ballot,  his  com- 
petitors being  Lewis  W.  Ross,  Wm.  McMurtry,  J.  B.  Hamilton, 
and  W.  W.  Thompson. 

The  whigs  had  not  hitherto  held  a  State  convention  for  the 
nomination  of  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  but  this  year 
it  was  determined  to  call  one,  which   met  at  Peoria,  June  8. 

Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick  of  Scott  County,  received  the  nomina- 
tion for  governor,  and  Nathaniel  G.  Wilcox  of  Schuyler,  for 

505 


506  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

lieutenant-governor.  Kilpatrick  was  then  serving  his  second 
term  of  four  years  in  the  State  senate.  He  was  born  in  Craw- 
ford County,  Penn.,  June  I,  1807,  and  removed  to  Illinois  in 
1834.  He  was  a  potter  by  trade,  but  an  apt  and  industrious 
student  of  public  affairs;  of  a  high  cast  of  mind  as  a  thinker, 
and  a  natural  orator.  There  were  few  men  in  his  own  party 
who  were  equal  to  him  on  the  stump,  and  there  was  no  one 
in  the  opposite  party  who  cared  to  meet  him  the  second 
time.  Gov.  Ford  spoke  highly  of  his  ability  and  services  in 
supporting  the  financial  measures  of  his  administration;  he 
also  took  a  decided  stand  in  favor  of  education,  temperance, 
and  the  calling  of  a  convention  to  amend  the  constitution.* 

The  result  of  the  election  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  The 
Mexican  War,  now  under  way,  was  a  democratic  measure, 
popular  with  the  masses,  and  there  was  no  withstanding  the 
furor  in  its  favor.  There  was  no  excitement  and  very  little 
effort  was  made  to  stem  the  tide  toward  the  democratic  camp. 
Baker  and  Hardin  were  in  the  field,  and  the  election  of  Lin- 
coln to  congress  from  the  Sangamon  district,  over  Peter 
Cartwright,  was  the  only  crumb  of  comfort  which  fell  to  the 
whigs. 

The  vote  in  the  State  stood  for  French  58,700,  Kilpatrick 
36,775,  and  5 1 12  for  Richard  Eells,  the  abolition  candidate. 

Gov.  French  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hill,  New  Hampshire, 
Aug.  2,  1808,  and  was  the  first  "Yankee"  elevated  to  the  execu- 
tive chair  in  this  State.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  enjoy- 
ing a  fair  practice  in  Crawford  County,  where  he  resided.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  general  assem- 
blies, and  receiver  of  the  land-office  at  Palestine.  He  had  not 
distinguished  himself  in  the  legislature  as  a  leader  or  speaker, 
and  was  but  little  known  outside  of  his  senatorial  district;  but 
he  possessed  those  qualities  of  prudence,  economy,  good  judg- 
ment, and  integrity,  which  enabled  him   to  fill  the  executive 

*  He  emigrated  to  California  in  1850,  hoping  to  gain  that  worldly  fortune  which 
he  had  failed  to  find  in  Illinois;  but  meeting  with  poor  success  he  returned  in  time 
to  take  part  in  the  great  political  campaigns  of  1858-60.  When  the  war  of  the 
rebellion  broke  out,  he  raised  a  company,  and  was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  28th 
Regiment.  He  was  killed  at  Shiloh,  April  6,  1862.  On  the  morning  of  that  mem- 
orable day,  against  the  remonstrance  of  his  friends,  he  donned  his  uniform  and  rode 
at  the  head  of  his  command,  where  he  soon  bravely  fell  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight. 


FIFTEENTH   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  S°7 

office  with  credit  to  himself  and  tended  to  the  promotion 
of  the  best  interests  of  the  State  at  this  time.  He  was  of 
medium  height,  solidly  built,  of  florid  complexion,  and  plain, 
though  agreeable,  manners. 

The  fifteenth  general  assembly  convened  Dec.  7,  1846.  The 
democrats  controlled  each  house  by  a  majority  of  over  two  to 
one.  Among  the  "hold-over"  senators  were  Messrs.  Willis 
Allen,  Boal,  Cavarly,  Constable,  Dougherty,  Edwards,  Kil- 
patrick,  Matteson,  Webb.  Norman  B.  Judd  and  Jacob  C.  Davis 
entered  upon  their  second  terms.  Among  the  new  senators 
were  Thomas  G.  C.  Davis,  Joseph  Gillespie,  who  was  in  the 
twelfth  house,  Josiah  McRoberts,  Anson  S.  Miller,  Silas  Noble, 
and  Wm.  Reddick. 

The  house  was  composed  mostly  of  new  members  —  there 
being  but  twenty-two,  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-one, 
who  had  previously  served  in  that  body.  Among  these  were 
John  Reynolds,  after  an  absence  of  eighteen  years,  Wm.  B. 
Archer,  Curtis  Blakeman,  Newton  Cloud,  U.  F.  Linder,  Dr.  John 
Logan,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Wm.  Pickering,  Francis  C.  Sher- 
man, and  E.  H.  Starkweather. 

Among  the  new  members  were  Wm.  F.  DeWolf"  of  Madi- 
son County,  James  Herrington  of  Kane,  Samuel  S.  Hayes, 
Dr.  James  M.  Higgins  of  Pike  County,  Edward  G.  Miner,-f-  and 
John  B.  Campbell  of  Scott,  Isaac  N.  Morris,  Joseph  Morton, 
Dorice  D.  Shumway,  Mark  Skinner,*  Rigdon  B.  Slocumb, 
W7m.  Thomas,  who  had  previously  served  in  the  senate,  and 
Wm.  H.  Underwood. 

Newton  Cloud  of  Morgan  County,  who  proved  to  be  a  pop- 
ular and  efficient  presiding  officer,  was  elected  speaker  of  the 
house  —  the  whigs  voting  for  Stephen  T.  Logan  —  John  Mc 
Donald  clerk,  Andrew  J.  Galloway  engrossing  and  enrolling 
clerk,  and  John  A.  WTilson  doorkeeper — the  latter  by  acclama- 
tion. The  officers  elected  in  the  senate  were,  Henry  W.  Moore 

*  He  afterward  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  has  acceptably  filled  many  respon- 
sible positions,  and  is  still  living,  though  an  invalid,  at  an  advanced  age. 

t  Still  living — an  honored  citizen — at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 

J  Judge  Skinner  was  born  in  Vermont,  Sept.  13,  1813,  and  resided  in  Chicago 
from  1836  to  the  time  of  his  death,  Sept.  16,  1887.  He  was  of  high  character,  an 
eminent  lawyer,  and  influential  citizen. 


508  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

secretary,  Nelson  D.  Elwood  assistant,  and  Wm.  J.  Cline  ser- 
geant-at- arms. 

The  farewell  message  of  Gov.  Ford  was  very  brief,  and  was 
confined  to  a  review  of  the  financial  side  of  his  administration, 
in  which  the  striking  contrast  between  the  condition  of  state 
affairs  at  its  commencement  and  close,  was  clearly  set  forth. 

The  inaugural  of  Gov.  French  was  a  plain,  business-like 
document.  He  cautioned  the  members  against  excessive  legis- 
lation, and  the  too  frequent  changes  of  laws;  recommended 
the  refunding  and  payment  of  the  public  debt;  favored  the 
completion  of  the  canal,  and  the  reorganization  of  the  militia 
system;  called  attention  to  the  advisability  of  a  more  liberal, 
as  well  as  more  efficient,  common-school  law;  referred  to  the 
obligation  resting  upon  the  State  to  make  provision  for  the 
insane;  and  took  ground  against  "incorporate  banking." 

But  while  the  members  listened  with  commendable  attention 
to  the  address  of  the  new  governor,  they  were  not  yet  ready 
to  enter  upon  its  practical  consideration.  The  usual  elections 
which  devolved  upon  the  legislature  were  of  paramount  impor- 
tance. First,  there  was  a  United- States  senator  to  elect  in 
place  of  Judge  Semple.  As  to  a  candidate  for  this  place,  how- 
ever, there  was  very  little  difference  of  opinion  among  the 
democrats,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  being  their  almost  unanimous 
choice.  No  man  had  ever  grown  so  fast  into  popular  favor  in 
this  State  as  he.  Thirteen  years  before  this  he  had  come  to 
Illinois,  a  beardless  boy,  without  friends,  fortune,  or  profes- 
sion. But  he  possessed  what  was  more  valuable  than  these, 
a  mental  and  physical  constitution  of  the  highest  order.  He 
read  law,  with  a  natural  taste  for  it,  was  quickly  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  in  less  than  two  years  was  elected  by  the  legisla- 
ture prosecuting- attorney  of  Morgan  County,  over  John  J. 
Hardin.  At  Vandalia,  where  the  contest  took  place,  his  com- 
prehensive mind  took  in  the  objective  political  situation  at 
once.  He  perceived  that  the  democratic  party,  with  which  he 
cast  his  fortunes,  lacked  not  only  a  leader,  but  also  that 
essential  pre-requisite  to  success — organization.  To  perfect 
this  he  bent  his  best  energies.  Taking  into  his  counsels 
Ebenezer  Peck  and  a  few  others,  he  soon  brought  order 
out  of  confusion,  and  thenceforth,  under  the  convention  sys- 


STEPHEN   A.   DOUGLAS,  509 

tern  adopted,  there  was  no  longer  danger  of  losing  an  elec- 
tion by  dissipating  the  party  strength  upon  different  can- 
didates. He  was  under  the  average  size,  being  only  five  feet 
four  inches  in  height — just  a  foot  shorter  than  Lincoln  — 
but  was  compactly  built  and  gracefully  formed,  with  a  finely 
developed  head  —  larger  than  the  average  —  covered  with  a 
thick  growth  of  black  hair.  A  never- failing  flow  of  animal 
spirits  imparted  to  manners  naturally  polite  and  winning  a 
feature  of  whole -heartedness  which  made  them  irresistible. 
Although  reared  in  the  cold  latitude  of  New  England  he 
took  kindly  to  the  easy  ways  of  his  adopted  western  home. 
His  faculty  of  adapting  himself  to  his  surroundings,  and  his 
remarkable  power  as  a  conversationalist  attached  him  to  his 
friends,  with  whom  he  was  ever  popular,  while  toward  his 
opponents  his  demeanor,  though  frank  and  courteous,  was 
aggressive — even  belligerent.  His  courage  quailed  before  no 
danger,  his  energy  faltered  before  no  obstacle.  In  the  ranks 
of  his  opponents  he  created  as  much  consternation  as  did 
Napoleon  in  his  campaign  against  Gen.  Wurmser  in  Italy; 
while  among  the  old  fogies  of  his  own  party  he  was  regarded 
with  suspicion  and  distrust.  John  Reynolds  and  Breese  and 
Ford  made  no  attempt  to  disguise  their  dislike  of  the  man  and 
his  methods,  and  growled  their  ineffectual  discontent — Douglas 
having  endeared  himself  to  the  people  who  admired  him  as  a 
man  and  hung  upon  his  words:  for  he  had  already  manifested 
the  possession  of  those  oratorical  powers  which  soon  made 
him  the  champion  of  his  party  and  the  foremost  stump  athlete 
of  his  time. 

In  1836,  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  as  has  been  shown, 
and  although  he  claimed  to  have  been  elected  to  congress  in 
1838,  Stuart  received  the  certificate.  In  1840,  he  was  ap- 
pointed and  confirmed  secretary  of  state,  and  a  few  months 
thereafter  elevated  to  the  supreme  court.  But  the  bench  was 
not  to  his  taste,  and  in  1842  he  ran  for  congress  in  the  Quincy 
district  against  O.  H.  Browning.  It  was  a  remarkable  contest. 
Browning  was  a  Kentucky  whig,  who  had  served  with  dis- 
tinguished ability  in  the  legislatures  of  his  native  and  adopted 
states.  He  was  a  fine  lawyer,  and  was  considered  at  the  time 
perhaps  the  ablest  speaker  in  the  State.    They  took  the  stump 


5IO  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

and  canvassed  the  district  together,  speaking  in  all  the  principal 
towns.  Browning,  dressed  in  Kentucky  jeans,  appealed  to  the 
sectional  predilections  of  a  Kentucky  and  Western  constituency; 
Douglas,  a  Vermont  Yankee,  took  off  his  coat,  rolled  up  his 
shirt  sleeves,  and  presented  the  issues  of  the  campaign  to  and 
as  one  of  the  common  people.  The  result  was  that  in  a  dis- 
trict which  two  years  before  had  given  only  one  majority  for 
VanBuren,  the  "Little  Giant"  as  he  had  come  to  be  popularly 
designated,  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  majority  of  451.  At  the 
next  congressional  election  he  was  again  successful — this  time 
running  against  D.  M.  Woodson  of  Greene  County — by  an 
increased  majority.  He  made  a  strong  impression  in  congress, 
by  his  effort  in  favor  of  refunding  a  fine  imposed  at  New 
Orleans  against  Gen.  Jackson,  and  soon  occupied  a  front  rank 
among  its  leading  debaters.  And  now,  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-three  years,  he  reached  a  still  higher  round  in  the  ladder 
of  his  ambition  toward  the  presidency  by  his  election,  on  Dec. 
13,  to  the  United-States  senate.  The  whigs  again  cast  their 
merely  complimentary  vote  for  Cyrus  Edwards. 

The  success  of  the  judge  was  celebrated  by  a  grand  fete 
given  in  his  honor  at  the  state-house.  A  fine  collation  was 
spread  in  the  senate  chamber,  where  the  most  dainty  eatables, 
with  no  lack  of  drinkables,  were  dispensed  by  liberal  and  ad- 
miring hands.  The  chamber  of  the  house  was  converted  into 
a  ball-room,  where  those  having  a  taste  for  the  poetry  of 
motion  enjoyed  themselves  till  morning. 

On  December  19,  Gustavus  Koerner,  vice  James  Shields, 
resigned,  and  Norman  H.  Purple,  vice  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  were 
elected  justices  of  the  supreme  court;  and  David  B.  Campbell 
attorney-general  —  the  whigs  casting  their  vote  for  Elihu  B. 
Washburne,  this  being  his  first  appearance  in  state  politics. 

On  December  23,  Horace  S.  Cooley  was  nominated  and  con- 
firmed secretary  of  state. 

On  January  2,  Thomas  H.  Campbell  was  reelected  auditor 
of  public  accounts,  and  Milton  Carpenter  state  treasurer,  both 
by  acclamation.  January  19,  Wm.  A.  Denning  of  Franklin 
County,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  supreme  court,  vice 
Walter  B.  Scates,  resigned ;  and  on  January  26,  Jesse  B.  Thomas 
was   again   elected   to   the   supreme   court   in   place  of  Judge 


MOB -LAW.  511 

Young,  who  resigned  to  take  the  position  of  commissioner  of 
the  general  land-office.* 

The  fifteenth  general  assembly  continued  in  session  until 
March  1,  and  in  contrast  with  its  immediate  predecessors  was 
exceedingly  quiet  and  orderly.  The  principal  subjects  of  dis- 
cussion were  the  bill  providing  for  a  convention  to  frame  a 
constitution,*!*  the  new  common  school  law,  and  the  revenue 
laws.  The  Mexican  War  came  in  for  its  full  share  of  political 
debate,  strong  resolutions  in  its  favor  being  passed,  to  which 
the  whigs  succeeded  in  adding  an  endorsement  of  Gen.  Taylor. 

The  school  law — approaching  very  nearly  the  free  system — 
contained  121  sections;  authority  was  given  the  legal  voters 
of  any  district  to  levy  a  tax  to  build  school-houses,  and  sup- 
port common  schools. 

The  favorite  mode  of  expression  by  this  legislature  was 
through  joint  resolutions,  twenty  -  two  of  which  —  a  greater 
number  than  by  any  other  general  assembly  prior  to  1869 — 
were  adopted.  Among  these  was  one  relating  to  a  geological 
and  mineralogical  survey  of  the  State,  and  one  instructing  our 
senators  and  representatives  in  congress,  in  favor  of  a  railroad 
from  "Lake  Michigan  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

Other  laws  of  general  interest  were  enacted  as  follows: 
authorizing  the  sale  of  the  Gallatin  County  salines;  incorpo- 
rating the  University  of  Chicago;  authorizing  the  sale  of  the 
Northern-Cross  Railroad;  "to  incorporate  the  Illinois  Literary 
and  Historical  Society;"  "to  establish  the  Illinois  State  Hospi- 
tal for  the  Insane  at  Jacksonville;"    authorizing  a  settlement 

*  After  the  election  of  Gen.  Taylor,  Judge  Young  made  a  strong  effort  to  continue 
in  the  land-office,  and  had  some  influential  whig  support,  as  against  Mr.  Lincoln  who 
was  a  candidate  for  the  position,  and  who  was  generally  endorsed  by  the  whig  mem- 
bers of  congress.  Young  would  have  been  re-appointed  but  for  the  fact  that  during 
the  campaign  he  wrote  a  very  severe  article  against  Gen.  Taylor  and  sent  it  to  all  the 
newspapers  in  Illinois,  and  on  the  copy  he  sent  to  Quincy,  he  stated  at  the  bottom  of 
the  article  in  large  letters  "I  wrote  this.  R.  M.  Y."  Browning  got  hold  of  the 
article  and  sent  it  to  Lincoln,  who  showed  it  to  Gen.  Taylor — that  settled  the  pre- 
tentions of  the  judge  in  that  direction.  Through  the  influence  of  Daniel  Webster, 
the  land-office  was  given  to  Justin  Butterfield  of  Chicago,  (MS.  of  John  Wentworth). 
Judge  Young  was  elected  clerk  of  the  United-States  house  of  representatives,  (31st 
congress).     He  died  at  Washington  in  an  insane  asylum  in  1853. 

t  The  whole  number  of  votes  cast  at  the  August  election,  when  the  calling  of  a 
convention  was  submitted,  was  99,654;  for  a  convention  58,339,  against  23,013. 


SI  2  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL, 

of  the  Macalister  and  Stebbins  bonds;  providing  that  all  the 
lands  sold  by  the  United  States  should  be  subject  to  taxation 
as  soon  as  sold — the  restriction  of  five  years  having  been  re-' 
moved  by  congress;  "to  authorize  the  refunding  of  the  State 
debt;"  "to  establish  district  courts  in  the  State  of  Illinois." 
This  latter  act  was  passed  to  meet  not  only  the  judicial  com- 
plications which  had  occurred  in  Hancock  County,  but,  and 
more  directly,  the  disturbances  which  had  more  recently 
occurred  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  State. 

Outbreaks  of  the  mob  spirit — local  revolts  against  the  con- 
stituted authorities  have,  indeed,  been  of  rather  frequent  occur- 
rence in  Illinois.  In  1816-17,  while  yet  a  territory,  a  class  of 
criminals — horse-thieves  and  counterfeiters — had  become  so 
numerous  and  powerful,  including  as  it  did  many  town  and 
county  officers,  as  to  be  able  to  prosecute  their  nefarious  work 
with  impunity.  If  any  of  them  were  arrested,  their  friends 
would  connive  at  their  escape,  or,  if  tried,  would  succeed  In 
procuring  some  of  their  number  on  the  jury,  who  would  be 
sure  to  prevent  a  conviction.  What  the  government,  through 
its  weakness,  was  powerless  to  accomplish — the  punishment  of 
these  bandits — was  taken  in  hand  bv  the  citizens,  who  orean- 
ized  themselves  into  companies  and  proceeded  on  their  own 
responsibility  to  run  down,  punish,  or  drive  away  those  whom 
the  ordinary  administration  of  the  law  failed  to  reach.  In  a 
sparsely- settled  country,  where  sessions  of  court  were  infre- 
quent, these  proceedings  were  not  only  winked  at  by  the 
authorities,  but  were  generally  approved,  as  justifiable  in  the 
existing  condition  of  civil  affairs. 

In  1831,  a  band  of  outlaws  in  Pope  and  Massac  counties 
fortified  themselves  and  defied  the  authorities  to  attack  them. 
The  challenge  was  accepted  by  the  people,  who  stormed  their 
fort,  killed  three  of  the  beseiged,  and  made  prisoners  of  the 
remainder. 

In  1S40,  numerous  and  powerful  bands  of  swindlers  and 
knaves  associated  together  for  the  purpose  of  horse  stealing 
and  counterfeiting  in  the  counties  of  Ogle,  Winnebago,  Lee, 
and  DeKalb.  A  few  were  arrested,  but  generally,  through  the 
aid  of  confederates  upon  the  jury,  perjured  evidence,  and 
changes  of  venue,  they  managed  to  avoid  or  escape  that  pun- 


MOB-LAW   IN    MASSAC   COUNTY.  513 

ishment  they  so  justly  deserved.  The  people  once  more 
''became  a  law  unto  themselves,"  and  by  whippings,  banish- 
ments, and  two  or  three  capital  executions,  soon  rid  the  coun- 
try of  the  worst  of  these  outlaws. 

During  the  last  year  of  Gov.  Ford's  administration,  an- 
other rebellion,  on  a  smaller  scale,  but  characterized  by  equal 
violence  as  that  in  Hancock,  broke  out  in  Massac  County. 
The  arrest  of  a  criminal  for  robbery  led  to  disclosures  by 
him,  implicating  a  large  number  of  persons  who  were  banded 
together  for  the  commission  of  crimes  in  that  and  surrounding 
counties.  So  extensive  was  the  field  of  their  operations  and 
so  great  their  numbers,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  community 
formed  themselves  into  a  company  of  self-appointed  regula- 
tors, who  proceeded  to  notify  the  suspected  parties  to  leave 
the  county.  At  the  August  election,  1846,  those  opposed  to 
these  irregular  measures  succeeded  in  electing  their  can- 
didates for  sheriff  and  county  clerk.  The  failure  of  the  regu- 
lators at  the  polls  had  the  effect  of  redoubling  their  energies 
as  an  organization.  They  seized  many  suspected  persons, 
some  of  whom  they  caused  to  leave  the  county,  others  they 
punished,  and  others  tortured  into  further  confessions.  Upon 
complaint  of  some  of  those  who  had  thus  suffered  at  their 
hands,  leading  regulators  were  arrested  and  put  in  jail,  but 
were  soon  after  rescued  by  their  friends.  The  sheriff  and 
county  clerk  were  ordered  to  leave  the  country. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  interference  of  the  governor 
was  invoked.  Gen.  John  T.  Davis  was  ordered  to  investigate 
the  state  of  affairs  in  the  perturbed  district,  and,  if  necessary, 
to  call  upon  the  militia  for  assistance.  He  brought  about  an 
interview  between  representatives  of  the  warring  factions,  and 
succeeded,  as  he  supposed,  in  effecting  a  settlement  of  the 
differences  between  them;  but  he  had  no  sooner  left  than 
hostilities  were  renewed.  As  the  feud  progressed,  parties  who 
at  first  stood  aloof — including  many  from  adjoining  counties — 
became  involved,  not  only  through  family  connections,  but 
also  as  partisans,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  of  the  question  of 
maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  law. 

At  the  fall  term  of  the  circuit  court,  Judge  Walter  B.  Scates 
presiding,  indictments  were  found  against  several  regulators, 
33 


5H  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

who  were  arrested  and  sent  to  jail.  The  friends  of  the  pris- 
oners assembled,  and  threatened  to  release  them  and  to  lynch 
the  judge.  The  sheriff  summoned  a  posse  to  aid  him  in  main- 
taining his  authority;  but  so  great  was  the  intimidation  of  the 
inhabitants  that  only  sixty  responded,  while  the  regulators 
marched  into  Metropolis  City  with  a  much  larger  opposing 
force,  and,  as  a  result,  the  sheriff's  party  surrendered,  under 
promise  of  exemption  from  violence.  The  victors  then  liber- 
ated their  friends,  carried  several  of  the  sheriff's  posse  off 
with  them  as  prisoners,  some  of  whom,  it  was  claimed,  were 
put  to  death  by  drowning  in  the  Ohio  River.  The  sheriff  and 
his  friends  were  again  notified  to  leave. 

Another  attempt  by  the  governor  to  restore  order,  through 
Dr.  Wm.  J.  Gibbs,  failed  of  any  other  result  than  to  leave  the 
regulators  masters  of  the  field  and  stronger  than  ever.  They 
proceeded  to  seize,  try,  and  punish  alleged  offenders  with  a  high 
hand.  Other  indictments  of  regulators  and  collisions  between 
their  friends  and  the  "fiat-heads,"  as  the  other  side  was  called, 
followed,  and  other  seizures  and  outrages  rapidly  succeeded 
each  other  until  the  meeting  of  the  legislature. 

Ordinary  processes  and  legal  proceedings  had  been  found 
wholly  ineffectual,  because  nearly  the  entire  body  of  inhabitants 
had  become  interested  on  one  side  or  the  other. 

The  object  of  the  passage  of  the  law  to  establish  district 
courts  was,  in  effect,  to  provide  for  a  change  of  venue  by  the 
State — to  enable  the  judge  to  hold  court  in  any  county  in  his 
circuit,  so  that  the  administration  of  the  law  would  not  be 
obstructed  by  interested  jurors  or  tainted  with  partisan  feelings. 
The  determination  of  the  state  authorities  to  interfere  and 
restore  order  had  a  quieting  effect  for  the  time  on  all  parties. 
But  the  same  lawless  spirit  has  since  been  frequently  manifested 
in  that  locality  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  difficult  of  control. 

The  revolutionary  proceedings  of  mobs,  unless  summarily 
checked,  afford  an  evidence  of  the  weakness  and  inefficiency  of 
the  government;  and  while  sometimes  the  midnight  lynching 
of  a  depraved  criminal  is  but  the  execution  of  a  swifter  justice 
than  is  possible  by  ordinary  processes,  and  is  felt  to  be  excusa- 
ble by  the  best  citizens,  lawlessness,  when  once  countenanced 
and  permitted  to  mark  out  its  own  path  of  administration,  not 


STATE   RECEIPTS   AND   EXPENDITURES. 


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10 

The  above  table  has  been  prepared  from  the  best  accessible  data,  and  is  believed 
to  be  substantially  correct.  As  remarked  by  Gov.  Edwards  in  his  inaugural  address 
of  1826,  up  to  that  time  no  report  had   been  presented  to  the  legislature  which 


5l6  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

only  frequently  results  in  the  perpetration  of  fatal  errors,  where- 
by the  innocent  suffer  instead  of  the  guilty,  but  also  leads 
to  the  subversion  of  all  government. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  State  under  the  constitution 
of  1818,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained  from  the  reports  of 
the  auditor,  state  treasurer,  and  governors'  messages,  is  exhib- 
ited in  convenient  form  in  the  foregoing  table,  which  shows 
the  receipts  and  expenditures,  arranged  biennially,  to  corre- 
pond  with  the  several  general  assemblies,  from  the  time  of 
its  organization. 

The  progress  of  the  State  during  the  first  portion  of  this 
period  has  already  been  referred  to.  The  growth  in  popula- 
tion had  been  steady  and  permanent,  from  1835  to  1840,  the 
increase  being  206,207,  about  seventy  per  cent.  From  1840  to 
1845,  notwithstanding  the  financial  depression,  and  uninviting 
prospects  for  immigrants,  there  was  an  increase  of  185,967, 
nearly  forty  per  cent,  the  total  population  being  662,150.  The 
State  now  had  seven  representatives  in  congress;  and  although 
it  had  not  overtaken  Indiana  or  Kentucky  in  this  respect,  it 
stood  along-side  of  Maine,  Alabama,  and  South  Carolina.  All 
the  counties  as  now  existing  were  organized  except  Kankakee, 
Douglas,  and  Ford. 

Notwithstanding  these  evidences  of  healthy  growth,  Illinois 
at  this  period  was  in  a  crude  and  undeveloped  condition.  She 
had  not  yet  come  under  the  magic  influence  of  the  electric  tele- 
graph, nor  of  the  steam  railway,  which  she  was  soon  to  feel, 
and  had  received  but  little  benefit  from  the  inventive  genius  of 
the  American  mechanic.  Chicago,  already  the  largest  city  in 
the  State,  could  boast  only  a  population  of  16,859.  The  next 
largest  city  was  Ouincy,  reaching  about  6000,  with  Galena  and 

exhibited  anything  like  a  distinct  view  of  the  amount  chargeable  on  the  respective 
branches  of  revenue,  or  of  the  aggregate  amount  of  taxes  that  had  accrued  in  any 
one  year.  And  it  may  be  added,  that  the  manner  of  keeping  the  state  accounts  did 
not  much  improve  for  many  years  thereafter.  Even  as  late  as  1842,  the  auditor 
made  two  separate  reports  the  same  year  which  differed  very  widely  in  the  statements 
of  amounts  received  and  expended.  The  amount  received  on  account  of  the  school, 
college,  and  seminary  fund  ($920, 136)  is  not  included  in  the  amount  of  receipts 
except  ($141,252)  for  the  years  1842-8.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  under  the  consti- 
tution of  1818  the  value  of  real  and  personal  property  in  the  State  was  not  reported 
separately  to  the  auditor,  except  from  a  few  counties,  nor  even  the  aggregate  values 
from  most  of  the  counties. 


ILLINOIS   IN    1847.  Sl7 

Peoria  not  far  behind;  while  Springfield,  the  capital  of  the 
State,  could  only  number  4000,  and  Jacksonville  less  than 
3000.  There  were  but  five  daily  and  45  weekly  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  State.  The  total  assessed  value  of  real  and  per- 
sonal property  in  1839,  as  estimated  by  the  auditor,  was  $58,- 
889,529,  and  in  1847  had  increased  to  $92,206,493;  which 
latter  amount  is  equal  only  to  the  present  assessment  in  the 
five  counties  of  LaSalle,  Adams,  Sangamon,  McLean,  and  St. 
Clair;  while  that  of  Cook  exceeds  these  early  figures  by  fifty 
per  cent. 

But  two  of  the  State  benevolent  institutions  had  been  estab- 
lished, and  those  on  a  small  scale.  The  land  was  still  plowed 
by  the  cast-iron  plow  with  wooden  mouldboard,  the  corn 
planted  by  hand,  the  golden  grain  gathered  by  sickle  or  cradle, 
threshed  by  flail  or  horsepower,  and  winnowed  by  hand. 

The  people  in  the  country,  numbering  three-fourths  of  the 
population,  still  dressed  in  homespun  and  home-made  clothing; 
and  manufacturing,  outside  of  the  half-dozen  cities,  where  a 
few  infantile  industries  had  been  established,  was  confined  to 
the  blacksmith,  the  cabinet,  chair,  and  wagon-maker. 


END   OF   VOLUME   ONE. 


APPENDIX. 


Ordinance  of  July  13,  1787. 

An    Ordinance   for   the   government  of  the   territory  of  the  United    States 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio. 

1.    T)E  IT  ORDAINED  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the 
-D     said  territory,   for  the  purpose  of  temporary  government,   be  one  district; 
subject,  however,  to  be  divided  into  two  districts,  as  future  circumstances  may,  in 
the  opinion  of  Congress,  make  it  expedient. 

2.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  estates  both  of  resident  and 
non-resident  proprietors  in  the  said  territory,  dying  intestate,  shall  descend  to,  and 
be  distributed  among  their  children,  and  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child,  in 
equal  parts;  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child  or  grandchild  to  take  the  share  of 
their  deceased  parent  in  equal  parts  among  them:  and  where  there  shall  be  no  chil- 
dren or  descendants,  then  in  equal  parts  to  the  next  of  kin,  in  equal  degree;  and 
among  collaterals,  the  children  of  a  deceased  brother  or  sister  of  the  intestate  shall 
have,  in  equal  parts  among  them,  their  deceased  parents'  share;  and  there  shall  in 
no  case,  be  a  distinction  between  kindred  of  the  whole  and  half-blood;  saving  in  all 
cases  to  the  widow  of  the  intestate,  her  third  part  of  the  real  estate  for  life,  and  one- 
third  part  of  the  personal  estate;  and  this  law  relative  to  descent  and  dower,  shall 
remain  in  full  force  until  altered  by  the  legislature  of  the  district.  And  until  the 
governor  and  judges  shall  adopt  laws  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  estates  in  the  said 
territory  may  be  devised  or  bequeathed  by  wills  in  writing,  signed  and  sealed  by  him 
or  her,  in  whom  the  estate  may  be,  (being  of  full  age,)  and  attested  by  three  wit- 
nesses; and  real  estate  may  be  conveyed  by  lease  and  release,  or  bargain  and  sale, 
signed,  sealed,  and  delivered,  by  the  person,  being  of  full  age,  in  whom  the  estate 
may  be,  and  attested  by  two  witnesses,  provided  such  wills  be  duly  proved,  and  such 
conveyances  be  acknowledged,  or  the  execution  thereof  duly  proved,  and  be  recorded 
within  one  year  after,  proper  magistrates,  courts,  and  registers  shall  be  appointed  for 
that  purpose;  and  personal  property  may  be  transferred  by  delivery;  saving,  however, 
to  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other  settlers  of  the  Kaskaskias,  Saint 
Vincents,  and  the  neighboring  villages,  who  have  hei  e  ofore  professed  themselves 
citizens  of  Virginia,  their  laws  and  customs,  now  in  force  among  them,  relative  to 
the  descent  and  conveyance  of  property. 

3.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  there  shall  be  appointed,  from 
time  to  time,  by  Congress,  a  governor,  whose  commission  shall  continue  in  force  for 
the  term  of  three  years,  unless  sooner  revoked  by  Congress:  he  shall  reside  in  the 
district  and  have  a  freehold  estate  therein,  in  one  thousand  acres  of  land,  while  in 
the  ex£rcise  of  his  office. 

4.  There  shall  be  appointed,  from  time  to  time,  by  Congress,  a  secretary,  whose 
commission  shall  continue  in  force  for  four  years,  unless  sooner  revoked;  he  shall  reside 
in  the  district  and  have  a  freehold  estate  therein,  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  while 

519 


520  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

in  the  exercise  of  his  office;  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  keep  and  preserve  the  acts  and 
laws  passed  by  the  legislature,  and  the  public  records  of  the  district,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  gorernor  in  his  executive  department;  and  transmit  authentic  copies 
of  such  acts  and  proceedings,  every  six  months  to  the  secretary  of  Congress.  There 
shall  also  be  appointed  a  court,  to  consist  of  three  judges,  any  two  of  whom  to  form 
a  court,  who  shall  have  a  common  law  jurisdiction,  and  reside  in  the  district,  and 
have  each  therein  a  freehold  estate,  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  while  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  offices;  and  their  commissions  shall  continue  in  force  during  good 
behavior. 

5.  The  governor  and  judges,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  adopt  and  publish  in  the 
district,  such  laws  of  the  original  states,  criminal  and  civil,  as  may  be  necessary,  and 
best  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the  district,  and  report  them  to  Congress  from 
time  to  time,  which  laws  shall  be  in  force  in  the  district,  until  the  organization  of  the 
general  assembly  therein,  unless  disapproved  of  by  Congress;  but  afterwards  the 
legislature  shall  have  authority  to  alter  them  as  they  shall  think  fit. 

6.  The  governor  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia, 
appoint  and  commission  all  officers  in  the  same,  below  the  rank  of  general  officers; 
all  general  officers  shall  be  appointed  and  commissioned  by  Congress. 

7.  Previous  to  the  organization  of  the  general  assembly,  the  governor  shall  appoint 
such  magistrates  and  other  civil  officers,  in  each  county  or  township,  as  he  shall  find 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  good  order  in  the  same.  After  the 
general  assembly  shall  be  organized,  the  powers  and  duties  of  magistrates  and  other 
civil  officers  shall  be  regulated  and  defined  by  the  said  assembly;  but  all  magistrates 
and  other  civil  officers,  not  herein  otherwise  directed,  shall,  during  the  continuance 
of  this  temporary  government,  be  appointed  by  the  governor. 

8.  For  the  prevention  of  crimes  and  injuries,  the  laws  to  be  adopted  or  made  shall 
have  force  in  all  parts  of  the  district,  and  for  the  execution  of  process,  criminal  and 
civil,  the  governor  shall  make  proper  division  thereof;  and  he  shall  proceed  from 
time  to  time,  as  circumstances  may  require,  to  lay  out  the  parts  of  the  district  in 
which  the  Indian  titles  shall  have  been  extinguished,  into  counties  and  townships, 
subject,  however,  to  such  alterations  as  may  thereafter  be  made  by  the  legislature. 

9.  So  soon  as  there  shall  be  five  thousand  free  male  inhabitants,  of  full  age  in  the 
district,  upon  giving  proofs  thereof  to  the  governor,  they  shall  receive  authority, 
with  time  and  place,  to  elect  representatives  from  their  counties  or  townships,  to 
represent  them  in  the  general  assembly;  provided  that,  for  every  five  hundred  free 
male  inhabitants,  there  shall  be  one  representative,  and  so  on,  progressively,  with 
the  number  of  free  male  inhabitants,  shall  the  right  of  representation  increase,  until 
the  number  of  representatives  shall  amount  to  twenty-five;  after  which  the  number 
and  proportion  of  representatives  shall  be  regulated  by  the  legislature;  provided, 
that  no  person  be  eligible  or  qualified  to  act  as  a  representative  unless  he  shall  have 
been  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  United  States  three  years,  and  be  a  resident  in  the 
district,  or  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in  the  district  three  years;  and  in  either  case, 
shall  likewise  hold  in  his  own  right,  in  fee  simple,  two  hundred  acres  of  land  within 
the  same;  provided  also,  that  a  freehold  in  fifty  acres  of  land  in  the  district,  having 
been  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  states,  and  being  resident  in  the  district,  or  the  like  free- 
hold and  two  years  residence  in  the  district,  shall  be  necessary  to  qualify  a  man  as  an 
elector  of  a  representative. 

10.  The  representatives  thus  elected,  shall  serve  for  the  term  of  two  years;  and  in 
case  of  the  death  of  a  representative,  or  removal  from  office,  the  governor  shall  issue 


APPENDIX — ORDINANCE   OF    1 787.  52  I 

a  writ  to  the  county  or  township  for  which  he  was  a  member,  to  elect  another  in  his 
stead,  to  serve  for  the  residue  of  the  term. 

11.  The  general  assembly,  or  legislature,  shall  consist  of  the  governor,  legislative 
council,  and  a  house  of  representatives.  The  legislative  council  shall  consist  of  five 
members,  to  continue  in  office  five  years,  unless  sooner  removed  by  Congress;  any 
three  of  whom  to  be  a  quorum:  and  the  members  of  the  council  shall  be  nominated 
and  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit:  As  soon  as  representatives  shall  be 
elected,  the  governor  shall  appoint  a  time  and  place  for  them  to  meet  together,  and 
when  met,  they  shall  nominate  ten  persons,  residents  in  the  district,  and  each  pos- 
sessed of  a  freehold  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  return  their  names  to  Con- 
gress; five  of  whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  to  serve  as  aforesaid: 
and  whenever  a  vacancy  shall  happen  in  the  council,  by  death  or  removal  from  office, 
the  house  of  representatives  shall  nominate  two  persons,  qualified  as  aforesaid,  for 
each  vacancy,  and  return  their  names  to  Congress;  one  of  whom  Congress  shall 
appoint  and  commission  for  the  residue  of  the  term:  And  every  five  years,  four 
months  at  least  before  the  expiration  of  the  time  of  service  of  the  members  of  coun- 
cil, the  said  house  shall  nominate  ten  persons,  qualified  as  aforesaid,  and  return  their 
names  to  Congress;  five  of  whom  Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  as  members 
of  the  council  five  years,  unless  sooner  removed.  And  the  governor,  legislative 
council,  and  house  of  representatives  shall  have  authority  to  make  laws,  in  all  cases, 
for  the  good  government  of  the  district,  not  repugnant  to  the  principles  and  articles 
in  this  ordinance  established  and  declared.  And  all  bills,  having  passed  by  a  major- 
ity in  the  house,  and  by  a  majority  in  the  council,  shall  be  referred  to  the  governor 
for  his  assent;  but  no  bill  or  legislative  act  whatever,  shall  be  of  any  force  without 
his  assent.  The  governor  shall  have  power  to  convene,  prorogue,  and  dissolve,  the 
general  assembly,  when  in  his  opinion  it  shall  be  expedient. 

12.  The  governor,  judges,  legislative  council,  secretary,  and  such  other  officers  as 
Congress  shall  appoint  in  the  district,  shall  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  of  fidelity, 
and  of  office;  the  governor  before  the  president  of  Congress,  and  all  other  officers 
before  the  governor.  As  soon  as  a  legislature  shall  be  formed  in  the  district,  the 
council  and  house  assembled,  in  one  room,  shall  have  authority,  by  a  joint  ballot,  to 
elect  a  delegate  to  Congress,  who  shall  have  a  seat  in  Congress,  with  a  right  of 
debating,  but  not  of  voting  during  this  temporary  government. 

13.  And  for  extending  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which 
form  the  basis  whereon  these  republics,  their  laws,  and  constitutions  are  erected;  to- 
fix  and  establish  those  principles  as  the  basis  of  all  laws,  constitutions,  and  govern- 
ments, which  forever  hereafter  shall  be  formed  in  the  said  territory;  to  provide,  also, 
for  the  establishment  of  states,  and  permanent  government  therein,  and  for  their 
admission  to  a  share  in  the  federal  councils  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
states,  at  as  early  a  period  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  general  interest. 

14.  It  is  hereby  ordained  and  declared,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  follow- 
ing articles  shall  be  considered  as  articles  of  compact,  between  the  original  states  and 
the  people  and  states  in  the  said  territory,  and  forever  remain  unalterable,  unless  by 
common  consent,  to  wit: 

Art.  I.  No  person  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable  and  orderly  manner,  shall 
ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship  or  religious  sentiments,  in  the 
said  territory. 

Art.  II.  The  inhabitants  of  the  said  territory  shall  always  be  entitled  to  the  bene- 
fits of  the  writs  of  habeas  corpus,  and  of  the  trial  by  jury;  of  a  proportionate  represen- 


522  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

tation  of  the  people  in  the  legislature,  and  of  judicial  proceedings  according  to  the 
course  of  the  common  law.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable,  unless  for  capital  offences, 
where  the  proof  shall  be  evident  or  the  presumption  great.  All  fines  shall  be  moder- 
ate; and  no  cruel  or  unusual  punishments  shall  be  inflicted.  No  man  shall  be  deprived 
of  his  liberty  or  property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the  land,  and 
should  the  public  exigencies  make  it  necessary,  for  the  common  preservation,  to  take 
any  person's  property,  or  to  demand  his  particular  services,  full  compensation  shall 
be  made  for  the  same.  And,  in  the  just  preservation  of  rights  and  property,  it  is 
understood  and  declared  that  no  law  ought  ever  to  be  made,  or  have  force  in  the 
said  territory,  that  shall,  in  any  manner  whatever,  interfere  with,  or  affect,  private 
contracts  or  engagements,  bona  fide,  and  without  fraud,  previously  formed. 

Art.  III.  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,  being  necessary  to  good  government 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be 
encouraged.  The  utmost  good  faith  shall  always  be  observed  towards  the  Indians; 
their  lands  and  property  shall  never  be  taken  from  them  without  their  consent;  and 
in  their  property,  rights,  and  liberty,  they  shall  never  be  invaded  or  disturbed,  unless 
in  just  and  lawful  wars  authorized  by  Congress;  but  laws  founded  in  justice  and 
humanity  shall,  from  time  to  time,  be  made,  for  preventing  wrongs  being  done  to 
them,  and  for  preserving  peace  and  friendship  with  them. 

Art.  IV.  The  said  territory,  and  the  states  which  may  be  formed  therein,  shall 
forever  remain  a  part  of  this  confederacy  of  the  United  States  of  America,  subject 
to  the  articles  of  confederation,  and  to  such  alterations  therein  as  shall  be  constitu- 
tionally made;  and  to  all  the  acts  and  ordinances  of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  conformable  thereto.  The  inhabitants  and  settlers  in  the  said  territory 
shall  be  subject  to  pay  a  part  of  the  federal  debts,  contracted  or  to  be  contracted, 
and  a  proportional  part  of  the  expenses  of  government,  to  be  apportioned  on  them 
by  Congress,  according  to  the  same  common  rule  and  measure  by  which  apportion- 
ments thereof  shall  be  made  on  the  other  states;  and  the  taxes  for  paying  their  pro- 
portion, shall  be  laid  and  levied  by  the  authority  and  direction  of  the  legislature  of 
the  district  or  districts,  or  new  states,  as  in  the  original  states,  within  the  time  agreed 
upon  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled.  The  legislatures  of  those  dis- 
tricts, or  new  states,  shall  never  interfere  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil  by  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  nor  with  any  regulations  Congress  may  find 
necessary,  for  securing  the  title  in  such  soil,  to  the  bona-fide  purchasers.  No  tax 
shall  be  imposed  on  lands  the  property  of  the  United  States,  and  in  no  case  shall 
non-resident  proprietors  be  taxed  higher  than  residents.  The  navigable  waters  lead- 
ing into  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  carrying  places  between  the  same, 
shall  be  common  highways,  and  forever  free,  as  well  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  said 
territory,  as  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  those  of  any  other  states  that 
may  be  admitted  into  the  confederacy,  without  any  tax,  impost,  or  duty  therefor. 

Art.  V.  There  shall  be  formed  in  the  said  territory  not  less  than  three,  nor  more 
than  five  states;  and  the  boundaries  of  the  states,  as  soon  as  Virginia  shall  alter  her 
act  of  session,  and  consent  to  the  same,  shall  become  fixed  and  established  as  fol- 
lows, to  wit:  the  western  state  in  the  said  territory,  shall  be  bounded  by  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  Ohio  and  Wabash  rivers;  a  direct  line  drawn  from  the  Wabash  and  Post 
Vincents,  due  north,  to  the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada; 
and  by  the  said  territorial  line  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  Mississippi.  The 
middle  states  shall  be  bounded  by  the  said  direct  line,  the  Wabash,  from  Post  Vin- 
cents to  the  Ohio,  by  the  Ohio,  by  a  direct  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  mouth  of 


APPENDIX — ORDINANCE   OF    1787.  523 

the  Great  Miami  to  the  said  territorial  line,  and  by  the  said  territorial  line.  The 
eastern  state  shall  be  bounded  by  the  last  mentioned  direct  line,  the  Ohio,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  the  said  territorial  line:  provided,  however,  and  it  is  further  understood 
and  declared,  that  the  boundaries  of  these  three  states  shall  be  subject  so  far  to  be 
altered,  that,  if  Congress  shall  hereafter  find  it  expedient,  they  shall  have  authority 
to  form  one  or  two  states  in  that  part  of  the  said  territory  which  lies  north  of  an 
east-and-west  line  drawn  through  the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan. 
And  whenever  any  of  the  said  states  shall  have  sixty  thousand  free  inhabitants  therein, 
such  state  shall  be  admitted,  by  its  delegates,  into  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states,  in  all  respects  whatever;  and  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  form  a  permanent  constitution  and  state  government;  provided  the  consti- 
tution and  government,  so  to  be  formed,  shall  be  republican,  and  in  conformity  to 
the  principles  contained  in  these  articles;  and,  so  far  as  it  can  be  consistent  with  the 
general  interest  of  the  confederacy,  such  admission  shall  be  allowed  at  an  earlier 
period,  and  when  there  may  be  a  less  number  of  free  inhabitants  in  the  state  than 
sixty  thousand. 

Art.  VI.  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  terri- 
tory, otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted:  provided  always,  that  any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom 
labor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed  in  any  one  of  the  original  states,  such  fugitive 
may  be  lawfully  reclaimed  and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or 
service,  as  aforesaid. 

lie  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  resolutions  of  the  23d  of  April, 
1784,  relative  to  the  subject  of  this  ordinance,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed 
and  declared  null  and  void.  Wm,  Grayson,  Chairman. 

Done  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  the  13th  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord,  1787,  and  of  the  Sovereignty  and  Independence  the  twelfth. 

Charles  Thompson,  Secretary. 


Treaty  of  Greenville,  August  3,  1795. 

A  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  tribes  of 
Indians  called  the  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Shawnees,  Ottawas,  Chippe- 
was,  Pottawatomies,  Miamis,  Eel  Rivers,  Weas,  Kickapoos,  Pianke- 
shaws,  and  Kaskaskias. 

TO  put  an  end  to  a  destructive  war,  to  settle  all  controversies,  and  to  restore  har- 
mony and  friendly  intercourse  between  the  said  United  States  and  Indian  tribes, 
Anthony  Wayne,  major  general,  commanding  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and 
sole  commissioner  for  the  good  purposes  above  mentioned,  and  the  said  tribes  of 
Indians,  by  their  sachems,  chiefs,  and  warriors,  met  together  at  Greenville,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  said  army,  have  agreed  on  the  following  articles,  which  when  ratified 
by  the  president,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  binding  on  them  and  the  said  Indian  tribes : 

Art.  I.  Henceforth  all  hostilities  shall  cease;  peace  is  hereby  established,  and 
shall  be  perpetual;  and  a  friendly  intercourse  shall  take  place  between  the  said  United 
States  and  Indian  tribes. 

Art.  II.     All  prisoners  shall,  on  both  sides,  be  restored.     The  Indians,  prisoners 


524  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

to  the  United  States,  shall  be  immediately  set  at  liberty.  The  people  of  the  United 
States,  still  remaining  prisoners  among  the  Indians,  shall  be  delivered  up  in  ninety 
days  from  the  date  hereof,  to  the  general  or  commanding  officer  at  Greenville,  Fort 
Wayne,  or  Fort  Defiance,  and  ten  chiefs  of  the  said  Indian  tribes  shall  remain  at 
Greenville  as  hostages,  until  the  delivery  of  the  prisoners  shall  be  effected. 

Art.  III.  The  general  boundary  line  between  the  lands  of  the  United  States  and 
the  lands  of  the  said  Indian  tribes,  shall  begin  at  the  mouth  of  Cuyahoga  river,  and 
run  thence  up  the  same  to  the  portage,  between  that  and  the  Tuscarawas  branch  of 
the  Muskingum,  thence  down  that  branch  to  the  crossing-place  above  Fort  Lawrence, 
thence  westerly  to  a  fork  of  that  branch  of  the  great  Miami  river,  running  into  the 
Ohio,  at  or  near  which  fork  stood  Loramie's  store,  and  where  commences  the  portage 
between  the  Miami  of  the  Ohio,  and  St.  Mary's  river,  which  is  a  branch  of  the 
Miami  which  runs  into  lake  Erie;  thence  a  westerly  course  to  Fort  Recovery,  which 
stands  on  a  branch  of  the  Wabash;  thence  southwesterly  in  a  direct  line  to  the  Ohio, 
so  as  to  intersect  that  river  opposite  the  mouth  of  Kentucky  or  Cuttawa  river.  And 
in  consideration  of  the  peace  now  established;  of  the  goods  formerly  received  from 
the  United  States;  of  those  now  to  be  delivered;  and  of  the  yearly  delivery  of  goods 
now  stipulated  to  be  made  hereafter;  and  to  indemnify  the  United  States  for  the 
injuries  and  expenses  they  have  sustained  during  the  war,  the  said  Indian  tribes  do 
hereby  cede  and  relinquish  forever,  all  their  claims  to  the  lands  lying  eastwardly  and 
southwardly  of  the  general  boundary  line  now  described;  and  these  lands,  or  any 
part  of  them,  shall  never  hereafter  be  made  a  cause  or  pretence,  on  the  part  of  the 
said  tribes  or  any  of  them,  of  war  or  injury  to  the  United  States,  or  any  of  the 
people  thereof. 

And  for  the  same  considerations,  and  as  an  evidence  of  the  returning  friendship  of 
the  said  Indian  tribes,  of  their  confidence  in  the  United  States,  and  desire  to  provide 
for  their  accommodation,  and  for  that  convenient  intercourse  which  will  be  beneficial 
to  both  parties,  the  said  Indian  tribes  do  also  cede  to  the  United  States  the  following 
pieces  of  land,  to  wit:  I.  One  piece  of  land  six  miles  square,  at  or  near  Loramie's 
store,  before  mentioned.  2.  One  piece  two  miles  square,  at  the  head  of  the  navi- 
gable water  or  landing,  on  the  St.  Mary's  river,  near  Girty's  town.  3.  One  piece 
six  miles  square,  at  the  head  of  the  navigable  water  of  the  Auglaize  river.  4.  One 
piece  six  miles  square,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Auglaize  and  Miami  rivers,  where 
Fort  Defiance  now  stands.  5.  One  piece  six  miles  square,  at  or  near  the  confluence 
of  the  rivers  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's,  where  Fort  Wayne  now  stands,  or  near  it. 

6.  One  piece  two  miles  square,  on  the  Wabash  river,  at  the  end  of  the  portage 
from  the  Miami  of  the  lake,  and  about  eight  miles  westward  from  Fort  Wayne. 

7.  One  piece  six  miles  square,  at  the  Ouatanon,  or  old  Wea  towns,  on  the  Wabash 
river.  8.  One  piece  twelve  miles  square,  at  the  British  fort  on  the  Miami  of  the 
lake,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids.  9.  One  piece  six  miles  square,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
said  river,  where  it  empties  into  the  lake.  10.  One  piece  six  miles  square,  upon 
Sandusky  lake,  where  a  fort  formerly  stood.  II.  One  two  miles  square,  at  the 
lower  rapids  of  Sandusky  river.  12.  The  post  of  Detroit,  and  all  the  land  to  the 
north,  the  west,  and  the  south  of  it,  of  which  the  Indian  title  has  been  extinguished 
by  gifts  or  grants  to  the  French  or  English  governments:  and  so  much  more  land  to 
be  annexed  to  the  district  of  Detroit,  as  shall  be  comprehended  between  the  river 
Rosine  on  the  south,  lake  St.  Clair  on  the  north,  and  a  line,  the  general  course 
whereof  shall  be  six  miles  distant  from  the  west  end  of  lake  Erie  and  Detroit  river. 
13.     The  post  of  Michilimackinac,  and  all  the  land  on  the  island  on  which  that  post 


APPENDIX — TREATY   OF   GREENVILLE.  525 

stands,  and  the  main  land  adjacent,  of  which  the  Indian  title  has  been  extinguished 
by  gifts  or  grants  to  the  French  or  English  governments;  and  a  piece  of  land  on  the 
main  to  the  north  of  the  island,  to  measure  six  miles,  on  lake  Huron,  or  the  strait 
between  lakes  Huron  and  Michigan,  and  to  extend  three  miles  back  from  the  water 
of  the  lake  or  strait;  and  also,  the  island  De  Bois  Blanc,  being  an  extra  and  volun- 
tary gift  of  the  Chippewa  nation.  14.  One  piece  of  land  six  miles  square,  at  the 
mouth  of  Chicago  river,  emptying  into  the  southwest  end  of  lake  Michigan,  where 
a  fort  formerly  stood.  15.  One  piece  twelve  miles  square,  at  or  near  the  mouth  of 
Illinois  river,  emptying  into  the  Mississippi.  16.  One  piece  six  miles  square,  at 
the  old  Piorias  fort  and  village,  near  the  south  end  of  the  Illinois  lake,  on  said  Illi- 
nois river.  And  whenever  the  United  States  shall  think  proper  to  survey  and  mark 
the  boundaries  of  the  lands  hereby  ceded  to  them,  they  shall  give  timely  notice 
thereof  to  the  said  tribes  of  Indians,  that  they  may  appoint  some  of  their  wise  chiefs 
to  attend  and  see  that  the  lines  are  run  according  to  the  terms  of  this  treaty. 

And  the  said  Indian  tribes  will  allow  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  a  free 
passage  by  land  and  by  water,  as  one  and  the  other  shall  be  found  convenient,  through 
their  country,  along  the  chain  of  posts  hereinbefore  mentioned — that  is  to  say,  from 
the  commencement  of  the  portage  aforesaid,  at  or  near  Loramie's  store,  thence 
along  said  portage  to  the  Saint  Mary's,  and  down  the  same  to  Fort  Wayne,  and 
then  down  the  Miami  to  lake  Erie;  again,  from  the  commencement  of  the  portage  at 
or  near  Loramie's  store  along  the  portage  from  thence  to  the  river  Auglaize,  and 
down  the  same  to  its  junction  with  the  Miami  at  Fort  Defiance;  again,  from  the 
commencement  of  the  portage  aforesaid,  to  Sandusky  river,  and  down  the  same  to 
Sandusky  bay  and  lake  Erie,  and  from  Sandusky  to  the  post  which  shall  be  taken  at 
or  near  the  foot  of  the  rapids  of  the  Miami  of  the  lake;  and  from  thence  to  Detroit. 
Again,  from  the  mouth  of  Chicago,  to  the  commencement  of  the  portage,  between 
that  river  and  the  Illinois,  and  down  the  Illinois  river  to  the  Mississippi;  also,  from 
Fort  Wayne,  along  the  portage  aforesaid,  which  leads  to  the  Wabash,  and  then  down 
the  Wabash  to  the  Ohio.  And  the  said  Indian  tribes  will  also  allow  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  the  free  use  of  the  harbors  and  mouths  of  rivers  along  the 
lakes  adjoining  the  Indian  lands,  for  sheltering  vessels  and  boats,  and  liberty  to  land 
their  cargoes  where  necessary  for  their  safety. 

Art.  IV.  In  consideration  of  the  peace  now  established,  and  of  the  cessions  and 
relinquishments  of  lands  made  in  the  preceding  article  by  the  said  tribes  of  Indians, 
and  to  manifest  the  liberality  of  the  United  States,  as  the  great  means  of  rendering 
this  peace  strong  and  perpetual,  the  United  States  relinquish  their  claims  to  all  other 
Indian  lands  northward  of  the  river  Ohio,  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  and  westward 
and  southward  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  waters  uniting  them,  according  to  the 
boundary  line  agreed  on  by  the  United  States  and  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  in  the 
treaty  of  peace  made  between  them  in  the  year  1783.  But  from  this  relinquishment 
by  the  United  States,  the  following  tracts  of  land  are  explicitly  excepted.  1st.  The 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  near  the  rapids  of  the  river  Ohio, 
which  has  been  assigned  to  Gen.  [G.  R.]  Clark,  for  the  use  of  himself  and  his  warriors. 
2d.  The  post  of  St.  Vincennes,  on  the  river  Wabash,  and  the  lands  adjacent,  of  which 
the  Indian  title  has  been  extinguished.  3d.  The  lands  at  all  other  places  in  posses- 
sion of  the  French  people  and  other  white  settlers  among  them,  of  which  the  Indian 
title  has  been  extinguished  as  mentioned  in  the  third  article.  And,  4th.  The  post  of 
Fort  Massac  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  To  which  several  parcels  of  land  so 
excepted,  the  tribes  relinguish  all  the  title  and  claim  which  they  or  any  of  them  may 
have. 


526  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

And  for  the  same  considerations  and  with  the  same  views  as  above  mentioned,  the 
United  States  now  deliver  to  the  said  Indian  tribes  a  quantity  of  goods  to  the  value 
of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  the  receipt  whereof  they  do  hereby  acknowledge,  and 
henceforward,  every  year,  forever,  the  United  States  will  deliver,  at  some  convenient 
place  northward  of  the  river  Ohio,  like  useful  goods,  suited  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  Indians,  of  the  value  of  nine  thousand  five  hundred  dollars — reckoning  that  value 
at  the  first  cost  of  the  goods  in  the  city  or  place  in  the  United  States  where  they 
shall  be  procured.  The  tribes  to  which  those  goods  are  to  be  annually  delivered,  and 
the  proportions  in  which  they  are  to  be  delivered  are  the  following : 

1st.  To  the  Wyandots,  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars.  2d.  To  the  Dela- 
wares,  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars.  3d.  To  the  Shawnees,  the  amount  of 
one  thousand  dollars.  4th.  To  the  Miamis,  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars. 
5th.  To  the  Ottawas,  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars.  6th.  To  the  Chippewas, 
the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars.  7th.  To  the  Pottawatimas,  the  amount  of  one 
thousand  dollars.  8th.  And  to  the  Kickapoo,  Wea,  Eel  River,  Piankeshaws,  and 
Kaskaskia  tribes,  the  amount  of  five  hundred  dollars  each. 

Provided,  that  if  either  of  the  said  tribes  shall  hereafter,  at  an  annual  delivery  of 
their  share  of  the  goods  aforesaid,  desire  that  a  part  of  their  annuity  should  be  fur- 
nished in  domestic  animals,  implements  of  husbandry,  and  other  utensils  convenient 
for  them,  and  in  compensation  to  useful  artificers  who  may  reside  with  or  near  them, 
and  be  employed  for  their  benefit,  the  same  shall,  at  the  subsequent  annual  deliveries, 
be  furnished  accordingly. 

Art.  V.  To  prevent  any  misunderstanding  about  the  Indian  lands  relinquished 
by  the  United  States  in  the  4th  article,  it  is  now  explicitly  declared,  that  the  mean- 
ing of  that  relinquishment  is  this:  the  Indian  tribes  who  have  a  right  to  those  lands, 
are  quietly  to  enjoy  them — hunting,  planting,  and  dwelling  thereon,  so  long  as  they 
please,  without  any  molestation  from  the  United  States;  but  when  those  tribes,  or 
any  of  them,  shall  be  disposed  to  sell  their  lands,  or  any  part  of  them,  they  are  to 
be  sold  only  to  the  United  States;  and  until  such  sale,  the  United  States  will  protect 
all  the  said  Indian  tribes  in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  their  lands  against  all  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  against  all  other  white  persons  who  may  intrude  upon  the 
same.  And  the  said  Indian  tribes  again  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  under  the 
protection  of  the  said  United  States,  and  no  other  power  whatever. 

Art.  VI.  If  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  any  other  white  person  or  persons, 
shall  presume  to  settle  upon  the  lands  now  relinquished  by  the  United  States,  such 
citizen  or  other  person  shall  be  out  of  the  protection  of  the  United  States;  and  the 
Indian  tribes,  on  whose  land  the  settlement  shall  be  made,  may  drive  off  the  settler, 
or  punish  him  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  think  fit;  and  because  such  settlements, 
made  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  will  be  injurious  to  them  as  well  as 
to  the  Indians,  the  United  States  shall  be  at  liberty  to  break  them  up,  and  remove 
and  punish  the  settlers  as  they  shall  think  proper,  and  so  effect  that  protection  of  the 
Indian  lands  herein  before  stipulated. 

Art.  VII.  The  said  tribes  of  Indians,  parties  to  this  treaty,  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
hunt  within  the  territory  and  lands  which  they  have  now  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
without  hindrance  or  molestation,  so  long  as  they  demean  themselves  peaceably,  and 
offer  no  injury  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

Art.  VIII.  Trade  shall  be  opened  with  the  said  Indian  tribes;  and  they  do  hereby 
respectively  engage  to  afford  protection  to  such  persons,  with  their  property,  as  shall 
be  duly  licensed  to  reside  among  them  for  the  purpose  of  trade,  and  to  their  agents 


APPENDIX — TREATY   OF   GREENVILLE.  527 

and  servants;  but  no  person  shall  be  permitted  to  reside  at  any  of  their  towns  or 
hunting-camps,  as  a  trader,  who  is  not  furnished  with  a  license  for  that  purpose, 
under  the  hand  and  seal  of  the  superintendent  of  the  department  northwest  of  the 
Ohio,  or  such  other  person  as  the  president  of  the  United  States  shall  authorize  to  grant  • 
such  license;  to  the  end,  that  the  said  Indians  may  not  be  imposed  on  in  their  trade. 
And  if  any  licensed  trader  shall  abuse  his  privilege  by  unfair  dealing,  upon  complaint 
and  proof  thereof,  his  license  shall  be  taken  from  him,  and  he  shall  be  further  pun- 
ished according  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  And  if  any  person  shall  intrude 
himself  as  a  trader,  without  such  license,  the  said  Indians  shall  take  and  bring  him 
before  the  superintendent,  or  his  deputy,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law.  And  to 
prevent  impositions  by  forged  licenses,  the  said  Indians  shall,  at  least  once  a  year, 
give  information  to  the  superintendent,  or  his  deputies,  of  the  names  of  the  traders 
residing  among  them. 

Art.  IX.  Lest  the  firm  peace  and  friendship  now  established,  should  be  interrupted 
by  the  misconduct  of  individuals,  the  United  States,  and  the  said  Indian  tribes  agree, 
that  for  injuries  done  by  individuals  on  either  side,  no  private  revenge  or  retaliation 
shall  take  place;  but  instead  thereof,  complaint  shall  be  made  by  the  party  injured, 
to  the  other;  by  the  said  Indian  tribes,  or  any  of  them,  to  the  president  of  the 
United  States,  or  the  superintendent  by  him  appointed;  and  by  the  superintendent 
or  other  person  appointed  by  the  president,  to  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  said  Indian 
tribes,  or  of  the  tribe  to  which  the  offender  belongs;  and  such  prudent  measures 
shall  then  be  pursued  as  shall  be  necessary  to  preserve  the  said  peace  and  friendship 
unbroken,  until  the  legislature  (or  great  council)  of  the  United  States,  shall  make 
other  equitable  provision  in  the  case,  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties.  Should  any 
Indian  tribes  meditate  a  war  against  the  United  States,  or  either  of  them,  and  the 
same  shall  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  before-mentioned  tribes,  or  either  of  them, 
they  do  hereby  engage  to  give  immediate  notice  thereof  to  the  general,  or  officer 
commanding  the  troops  of  the  United  States,  at  the  nearest  post.  And  should  any 
tribe,  with  hostile  intentions  against  the  United  States,  or  either  of  them,  attempt 
to  pass  through  their  country,  they  .will  endeavor  to  prevent  the  same,  and  in  like 
manner  give  information  of  such  attempt,  to  the  general,  or  officer  commanding,  as 
soon  as  possible,  that  all  causes  of  mistrust  and  suspicion  may  be  avoided  between 
them  and  the  United  States.  In  like  manner  the  United  States  shall  give  notice  to 
the  said  Indian  tribes  of  any  harm  that  may  be  meditated  against  them,  or  either  of 
them,  that  shall  come  to  their  knowledge;  and  do  all  in  their  power  to  hinder  and 
prevent  the  same,  that  the  friendship  between  them  may  be  uninterrupted. 

Art.  X.  All  other  treaties  heretofore  made  between  the  United  States  and  the 
said  Indian  tribes,  or  any  of  them,  since  the  treaty  of  1783,  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  that  come  within  the  purview  of  this  treaty,  shall  hence- 
forth cease  and  become  void. 

In  testimony  whereof,  the  said  Anthony  Wayne,  and  the  sachems  and  war  chiefs 
of  the  before-mentioned  nations  and  tribes  of  Indians,  have  hereunto  set  their 
hands  and  affixed  their  seals. 

Done  at  Greenville,  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  river 
Ohio,  on  the  third  day  of  August,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-five. 

Anthony  Wayne,     [l.  s.] 
wyandots.  Teyyaghtaw,  his  x  mark, 

Tarhe,  or  Crane,  his  x  mark,  Haroenyou,  or  Half  King's  son,  his  x 

J.  Williams,  jun.,  his  x  mark,  Tehaawtorens,  his  x  mark,  [mark, 


528 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 


Awmeyeeray,  his  x  mark, 
Stayetah,  his  x  mark, 
Shateyyaronyah,  or  Leather  Lips,  his 
Daughshuttah,  his  x  mark,        [x  mark, 
Shaawrunthe,  his  x  mark. 

DELAWARES. 

Tetabokshke,  or  Grand  Glaize  King, 

his  x  mark, 

Lemantanquis,  or  Black  King,  his  x 

Wabatthoe,  his  x  mark,  [mark, 

Maghpiway,  or  Red  Feather,  his  x  mark, 

Kikthawenund,  or  Anderson,  his  x  mark, 

Bukongehelas,  his  x  mark, 

Peekeelund,  his  x  mark, 

Wellebawkeelund,  his  x  mark, 

Peekeetelemund,  or  Thomas  Adams, 

his  x  mark, 

Kishkopekund,  or  Capt.  Buffalo,  his  x 

mark, 

Amenahehan,  or  Capt.  Crow,  his  x  mark, 

Queshawksey,  or  George  Washington, 

his  x  mark, 

Weywinquis,  or  Billy  Siscomb,  his  x 

Moses,  his  x  mark.  [mark, 

SHAWANEES. 

Misquacoonacaw  or  Red  Pole,  his  x 

mark, 

Cutthewekasaw,  or  Black  Hoof,  his  x 

Kaysewaesekah,  his  x  mark,         [mark, 

Weythapamattha,  his  x  mark, 

Nianymseka,  his  x  mark, 

Waytheah,  or  Long  Shanks,  his  x  mark, 

Weyapiersenwaw,  or  Blue  Jacket,  his 

x  mark, 
Nequetaughaw,  his  x  mark, 

Hahgooseeeaw,  or  Capt.  Reed,  his  x 

mark. 

OTTAWA. 

Chegonickska,  (an  Ottawa   from  San- 
dusky) his  x  mark. 

POTTAW  ATOMIES  OF  THE  RIVER  ST. 
JOSEPH. 

Thupenebu,  his  x  mark, 

Nawac,  (for  himself  and  brother 

Etsimethe)  his  x  mark, 

Nenanseka,  his  x  mark, 
Keesass,  or  Sun,  his  x  mark, 
Kabamasaw,  (for  himself  and  brother 
Chisaugan, )  his  x  mark, 


Sugganunk,  his  x  mark,  [mark, 

Wapmeme,  or  White  Pigeon,  his  x 

Wacheness,  (for  himself  and  brother 
Pedagoshok, )  his  x  mark, 

Wabshicawnaw,  his  x  mark, 
La  Chasse,  his  x  mark, 
Meshegethenogh,  (for  himself  and 

brother  Wawasek,)  his  x  mark, 
Hingoswash,  his  x  mark, 
Anewasaw,   his  x  mark, 
Nawbudgh,  his  x  mark, 
Missenogomaw,  his  x  mark, 
Waweegshe,  his  x  mark, 
Thawme,  or  Le  Blanc,  his  x  mark, 

Geeque,  (for  himself  and  brother 

Shewinse, )  his  x  mark. 

POTTAWATOMIES  OF  HURON. 

Okia,  his  x  mark, 
Charming,  his  x  mark, 
Segagewan,  his  x  mark, 

Nanawme,  (for  himself  and  brother 

A.  Gin, )  his  x  mark, 
Marchand,  his  x  mark, 
Wenameac,  his  x  mark. 

MIAMIS. 

Nagohquangogh,  or  Le  Gris,  his  x 

mark, 

Meshekunnoghquoh,  or  Little  Turtle, 

his  x  mark. 

OTTAWAS. 

Augooshaway,  his  x  mark, 
Keenoshameek,  his  x  mark, 
La  Malice,  his  x  mark, 
Machiwetah,  .his  x  mark, 
Thowonawa,  his  x  mark, 
Secaw,  his  x  mark. 

CHIPPEWAS. 

Mashipinashiwish,  or  Bad  Bird,  his  x 

mark, 

Nahshogashe,  (from  Lake  Superior,) 

his  x  mark, 
Kathawasung,  his  x  mark, 

Masass,  his  x  mark, 

Nemekass,  or  Little  Thunder,  his  x 

mark, 

Peshawkay,  or  Young  Ox,  his  x  mark, 

Nanguey,  his  x  mark, 

Meenedohgeesogh,  his  x  mark, 

Peewanshemenogh,  his  x  mark, 


APPENDIX — TREATY   OF   GREENVILLE. 


529 


Weymegwas,  his  x  mark, 
Gobmaatick,  his  x  mark. 

MIAMIS  AND  EEL  RIVERS. 

Peejeewa,  or  Richard  Ville,  his  x  mark, 
Cochkepoghtogh,  his  x  mark. 

EEL  RIVER  TRIBE. 

Shamekunnesa,  or  Soldier,  his  x  mark. 

MIAMI. 

Wapamangwa,  or  White  Loon,  his  x 

mark. 

WEAS   FOR  THEMSELVES  AND 
PIANKESHAWS. 

Amacunsa,  or  Little  Beaver,  his  x  mark, 


Acoolatha,  or  Little  Fox,  his  x  mark, 
Francis,  his  x  mark. 

KICKAPOOS  AND  KASKASKIAS. 

Keewhah,  his  x  mark, 

Nemighka,  or  Josey  Renard,  his  x  mark, 

Paikeekanogh,  his  x  mark. 

DELAWARES  OF   SANDUSKY. 

Hawkinpumiska,  his  x  mark, 

Peyamawksey,  his  x  mark, 

Reyntueco,  (of  the  Six  Nations  living 
at  Sandusky, )  his  x  mark. 


In  presence  of,  (the  word  "goods"  in  the  6th  line  of  the  3d  article;  and  word 
"before"  in  the  26th  line  of  the  3d  article;  the  words  "five  hundred  "in  the  10th  line 
of  the  4th  articles,  and  the  word  "Piankeshaw"  in  the  14th  line  of  the  4th  article, 
being  first  interlined. ) 

H.  De  Butts,  first  aide-de-camp  and  sec'y  to  Maj.-Gen.  Wayne, 

Wm.  H.  Harrison,  aide-de-camp  to  Maj.-Gen.  Wayne, 

T[homas]  Lewis,  aide-de-camp  to  Maj.-Gen.  Wayne, 

James  O'Hara,  quartermaster-general, 

John  Mills,  major  of  infantry,  and  adjutant  general. 


Caleb  Swan,  P.  M.  T.  U.  S. 

Geo.  Demler,  lieut.  artillery, 

[Francois]  Vigo, 

P.  Frs.  La  Fontaine, 

Ant.  Lasselle, 

H.  Lasselle, 

Jn.  Beau  Bien, 

David  Jones,  chaplain  U.  S.  S. 

Lewis  Beaufait, 

R.  Lachambre, 

Jas.  Pepen, 


Baties  Coution, 
P.  Navarre. 

SWORN  INTERPRETERS. 

William  Wells, 

Jacques  Lasselle, 

M.  Morins, 

Bt.  Sans  Crainte, 

Christopher  Miller, 

Robert  Wilson, 

Abraham  Williams,  his  x  mark, 

Isaac  Zane,  his  x  mark. 


Act  of  Congress,  3  February,  1809. 

Dividing  the  Indiana  Territory  into  two  separate  governments,  and  establish- 
ing the  territory  of  Illinois. 

§  i.T)E  IT  ENACTED  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
XJ  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  from  and  after  the  first  day 
of  March  next,  all  that  part  of  the  Indiana  territory  which  lies  west  of  the  Wabash 
river,  and  a  direct  line  drawn  from  the  said  Wabash  river  and  Post  Vincennes  due 
north,  to  the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  shall,  for  the 
purpose  of  temporary  government,  constitute  a  separate  territory,  and  be  called 
Illinois. 
§  2.     And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  there  shall  be  established  within  the  said 

34 


530  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

territory  a  government  in  all  respects  similar  to  that  provided  by  the  ordinance  of 
congress,  passed  on  the  13th  day  of  July,  17S7,  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  and  by  an  act  passed  on  the  7th 
day  of  August,  1789,  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio;"  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  shall  be  entitled  to  and 
enjoy  all  and  singular  the  rights,  privileges,  and  advantages,  granted  and  secured  to 
the  people  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  by  the 
said  ordinance. 

§  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  officers  for  the  said  territory  who,  by 
virtue  of  this  act,  shall  be  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  United  States,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate,  shall,  respectively,  exercise  the  same 
powers,  perform  the  same  duties,  and  receive  for  their  services  the  same  compensa- 
tions, as,  by  the  ordinance  aforesaid,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  have  been 
provided  and  established  for  similar  officers  in  the  Indiana  territory.  And  the  duties 
and  emoluments  of  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  shall  be  united  with  those  of 
governor.  Provided,  that  the  president  of  the  United  States  shall  have  full  power, 
in  the  recess  of  congress,  to  appoint  and  commission  all  officers  herein  authorized, 
and  their  commissions  shall  continue  in  force  until  the  end  of  the  next  session  of 
congress. 

§  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so  much  of  the  ordinance  for  the  government 
of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  as  relates  to  the 
organization  of  a  general  assembly  therein,  and  prescribes  the  powers  thereof,  shall 
be  in  force  and  operate  in  the  Illinois  territory,  whenever  satisfactory  evidence  shall 
be  given  to  the  governor  thereof  that  such  is  the  wish  of  a  majority  of  the  freeholders,, 
notwithstanding  there  may  not  be  therein  5000  free  male  inhabitants  of  the  age  of  21 
years  and  upward:  Provided,  That  until  there  shall  be  5000  free  male  inhabitants  of 
21  years  and  upward  in  said  territory,  the  whole  number  of  representatives  to  the 
general  assembly  shall  not  be  less  than  seven,  nor  more  than  nine,  to  be  apportioned 
by  the  governor  to  the  several  counties  in  the  said  territory,  agreeably  to  the  number 
of  free  males  of  the  age  of  21  years  and  upward,  which  they  may  respectively  contain. 

§  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  con- 
strued so  as  in  any  manner  to  affect  the  government  now  in  force  in  the  Indiana 
territory,  further  than  to  prohibit  the  exercise  thereof  within  the  Illinois  territory, 
from  and  after  the  aforesaid  first  day  of  March  next. 

§  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  suits,  process,  and  proceedings,  which, 
on  the  first  day  of  March  next,  shall  be  pending  in  the  court  of  any  county  which 
shall  be  included  within  the  said  territory  of  Illinois,  and  also  all  suits,  process,  and 
proceedings,  which,  on  the  said  first  day  of  March  next,  shall  be  pending  in  the 
general  court  of  the  Indiana  territory,  in  consequence  of  any  writ  of  removal,  or 
order  for  trial  at  bar,  and  which  had  been  removed  from  any  of  the  counties  in- 
cluded within  the  limits  of  the  territory  of  Illinois  aforesaid,  shall,  in  all  things  con- 
cerning the  same,  be  proceeded  on,  and  judgments  and  decrees  rendered  thereon,  in 
the  same  manner  as  if  the  said  Indiana  territory  had  remained  undivided. 

§  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  so 
construed  as  to  prevent  the  collection  of  taxes  which  may,  on  the  first  day  of  March 
next,  be  due  to  the  Indiana  territory  on  lands  lying  in  the  said  territory  of  Illinois. 

§  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  until  it  shall  be  otherwise  ordered  by  the 
legislature  of  the  said  Illinois  territory,  Kaskaskia,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  shall  be 
the  seat  of  government  for  the  said  Illinois  territory. 


APPENDIX.  531 

Act  of  Congress,  18  April,  1818. 

Enabling  the  people  of  Illinois  to  form  a  state  constitution. 

§  1.  T)E  IT  ENACTED  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
-D  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  inhabitants  of  the 
territory  of  Illinois  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  form  for  themselves  a  con- 
stitution and  state  government,  and  to  assume  such  name  as  they  shall  deem  proper; 
and  the  said  state,  when  formed,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  union  upon  the  same 
footing  with  the  original  states,  in  all  respects  whatever. 

§  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  state  shall  consist  of  all  the  terri- 
tory included  within  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit:  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Wabash  River;  thence  up  the  same,  and  with  the  line  of  Indiana,  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  said  state,  thence  east  with  the  line  of  the  same  state  to  the  middle  of 
Lake  Michigan;  thence  north  along  the  middle  of  said  lake,  to  north  latitude  42 
degrees  30  minutes;  thence  west  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  river;  and  thence 
down  along  the  middle  of  that  river  to  its  confluence  with  the  Ohio  river;  and 
thence  up  the  latter  river  along  its  northwestern  shore,  to  the  beginning:  Provided, 
That  the  convention  hereinafter  provided  for,  when  formed,  shall  ratify  the  boun- 
daries aforesaid;  otherwise  they  shall  be  and  remain  as  now  prescribed  by  the 
ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio :  Provided 
also,  That  the  said  state  shall  have  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  state  of  Indiana 
on  the  Wabash  river,  so  far  as  said  river  shall  form  a  common  boundary  to  both,  and 
also  concurrent  jurisdiction  on  the  Mississippi  river,  with  any  state  or  states  to  be 
formed  west  thereof,  so  far  as  said  river  shall  form  a  common  boundary  to  both. 

§  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  white  male  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
who  shall  have  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  have  resided  in  said 
territory  six  months  previous  to  the  day  of  election,  and  all  persons  having  in  other 
respects  the  legal  qualifications  to  vote  for  representatives  in  the  general  assembly  of 
the  said  territory  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  authorized  to  choose  representatives  to 
form  a  convention,  who  shall  be  apportioned  amongst  the  several  counties  as  follows:. 

From  the  county  of  Bond,  two  representatives;  From  the  county  of  Madison, 
three  representatives;  From  the  county  of  St.  Clair,  three  representatives;  From  the 
county  of  Monroe,  two  representatives;  From  the  county  of  Randolph,  two  repre- 
sentatives; From  the  county  of  Jackson,  two  representatives;  From  the  county  of 
Johnson,  two  representatives;  From  the  county  of  Pope,  two  representatives;  From 
the  county  of  Gallatin,  three  representatives;  From  the  county  of  White,  two  repre- 
sentatives; From  the  county  of  Edwards,  two  representatives;  From  the  county  of 
Crawford,  two  representatives;  From  the  county  of  Union,  two  representatives; 
From  the  county  of  Washington,  two  representatives;  And  from  the  county  of 
Franklin,   two  representatives; 

And  the  election  for  the  representatives  aforesaid  shall  be  holden  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  July  next,  and  the  two  following  days,  throughout  the  several  counties  in  the 
said  territory,  and  shall  be  conducted  in  the  same  manner,  and  under  the  same  regu- 
lations, as  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the  said  territory  regulating  elections  therein  for 
members  of  the  house  of  representatives. 

§  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  members  of  the  convention,  thus  duly 
elected,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  meet  at  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
said  territory,  on  the  first  Monday  of  the  month  of  August  next,  which  convention, 
when  met,  shall  first  determine,  by  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  elected,  whether 


532  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

it  be,  or  be  not,  expedient  at  that  time  to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government 
for  the  people  within  the  said  territory,  and,  if  it  be  expedient,  the  convention  shall 
be  and  hereby  is  authorized  to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government:  or,  if  it  be 
deemed  more  expedient,  the  said  convention  shall  provide  by  ordinance  for  electing 
representatives  to  form  a  constitution  or  frame  of  government;  which  said  represen- 
tatives shall  be  chosen  in  such  manner,  and  in  such  proportion,  and  shall  meet  at 
such  time  and  place,  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  said  ordinance,  and  shall  then  form 
for  the  people  of  said  territory  a  constitution  and  state  government:  provided,  That 
the  same,  whenever  formed,  shall  be  republican,  and  not  repugnant  to  the  ordinance 
of  the  13th  of  July,  1787,  between  the  original  states  and  the  the  people  and  states 
of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio;  excepting  so  much  of  said  articles  as 
relate  to  the  boundaries  of  the  states  therein  to  be  formed:  And  provided  also,  That 
it  shall  appear,  from  the  enumeration  directed  to  be  made  by  the  legislature  of  the 
said  territory,  that  there  are,  within  the  proposed  states,  not  less  than  40,000  inhabi- 
tants. 

§  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  until  the  next  general  census  shall  be  taken, 
the  said  state  shall  be  entitled  to  one  representative  in  the  house  of  representatives  of 
the  United  States. 

§  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  following  propositions  be  and  the  same 
are  hereby  offered  to  the  convention  of  the  said  territory  of  Illinois,  when  formed, 
for  their  free  acceptance  or  rejection,  which,  if  accepted  by  the  convention,  shall  be 
obligatory,  upon  the  United  States  and  the  said  state : 

First.  The  section  numbered  16  in  every  township,  and,  when  such  section  has 
been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of,  other  lands  equivalent  thereto,  and  as  contiguous 
as  may  be,  shall  be  granted  to  the  state,  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  such  town- 
ship, for  the  use  of  schools.  ' 

Second.  That  all  salt  springs  within  such  state,  and  the  land  reserved  for  the  use 
of  the  same,  shall  be  granted  to  the  said  state,  for  the  use  of  the  said  state,  and  the 
same  to  be  used  under  such  terms,  and  conditions,  and  regulations,  as  the  legislature 
of  the  said  state  shall  direct:  Provided,  The  legislature  shall  never  sell  nor  lease 
the  same  for  a  longer  period  than  10  years,  at  any  one  time. 

Third.  That  five  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  lands  lying  within  such 
state,  and  which  shall  be  sold  by  congress,  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January, 
1819,  after  deducting  all  expenses  incident  to  the  same,  shall  be  reserved  for  the 
purposes  following,  viz. :  two-fifths  to  be  disbursed,  under  the  direction  of  congress, 
in  making  roads  leading  to  the  state;  the  residue  to  be  appropriated,  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  state,  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  of  which  one-sixth  part  shall 
be  exclusively  bestowed  on  a  college  or  university. 

Fourth.  That  36  sections,  or  one  entire  township,  which  shall  be  designated  by 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  together  with  the  one  heretofore  reserved  for 
that  purpose,  shall  be  reserved  for  the  use  of  a  seminary  of  learning,  and  vestfti  in 
the  legislature  of  the  said  state,  to  be  appropriated  solely  to  the  use  of  such  seminary 
by  the  said  legislature:  Provided  always,  That  the  four  foregoing  propositions,  herein 
offered,  are  on  the  conditions  that  the  convention  of  the  said  state  shall  provide,  by 
an  ordinance  irrevocable,  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  that  every  and 
each  tract  of  land  sold  by  the  United  States,  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January, 
1 819,  shall  remain  exempt  from  any  tax  laid  by  order,  or  under  any  authority  of,  the 
state,  whether  for  state,  county,  or  township,  or  any  other  purpose  whatever,  for  the 
term  of  five  years  from  and  after  the  day  of  sale:  And  further,  That  the  bounty  lands 


APPENDIX — ACT   OF  CONGRESS.  533 

granted,  or  hereafter  to  be  granted,  for  military  services  during  the  late  war,  shall, 
while  they  continue  to  be  held  by  the  patentees,  or  their  heirs,  remain  exempt,  as 
aforesaid,  from  all  taxes,  for  the  term  of  three  years,  from  and  after  the  date  of  the 
patents  respectively;  and  that  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  residing  without  the  said  state,  shall  never  be  taxed  higher  than  lands  belong- 
ing to  persons  residing  therein. 

§  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  lying  north  of  the  state  of  Indiana,  and  which  was  included  in  the  former 
Indiana  territory,  together  with  that  part  of  the  Illinois  territory  which  is  situated 
north  of  and  not  included  within  the  boundaries  prescribed  by  this  act,  to  the  state 
thereby  authorized  to  be  formed,  shall  be,  and  hereby  is,  attached  to  and  made  part 
of  the  Michigan  territory,  from  and  after  the  formation  of  the  said  state,  subject, 
nevertheless,  to  be  hereafter  disposed  of  by  congress,  according  to  the  right  reserved 
in  the  fifth  article  of  the  ordinance  aforesaid,  and  the  inhabitants  therein  shall  be 
entitled  to  the  same  privileges  and  immunities,  and  subject  to  the  same  rules  and 
regulations,  in  all  respects,  with  the  other  citizens  of  the  Michigan  territory. 


Constitution  of  1818. 

Adopted  at  Kaskaskia  in  convention,  August  26,  1818. 

THE  people  of  the  Illinois  territory,  having  the  right  of  admission  into  the  general 
government  as  a  member  of  the  Union,  consistent  with  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  ordinance  of  congress  of  1787,  and  the  law  of  congress  approved 
April  1 8th,  1818,  entitled  "An  act  to  enable  the  people  of  the  Illinois  territory  to 
form  a  constitution  and  state  government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such  state  into 
the  Union,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states,  and  for  other  purposes;"  in 
order  to  establish  justice,  promote  the  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
themselves  and  their  posterity,  do  by  their  representatives  in  convention,  ordain  and 
establish  the  following  constitution  or  form  of  government;  and  do  mutually  agree 
with  each  other  to  form  themselves  into  a  free  and  independent  state,  by  the  name 
of  the  State  of  Illinois.  And  they  do  hereby  ratify  the  boundaries  assigned  to  such 
state  by  the  act  of  congress  aforesaid,  which  are  as  follows,  to  wit:  Beginning  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Wabash  river,  thence  up  the  same,  and  with  the  line  of  Indiana  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  said  state;  thence  east  with  the  line  of  the  same  state,  to  the 
middle  of  Lake  Michigan;  thence  north,  along  the  middle  of  said  lake,  to  north 
latitude  42  degrees  and  30  minutes;  thence  west  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  thence  down,  along  the  middle  of  that  river,  to  its  confluence  with  the 
Ohio  river;  and  thence  up  the  latter  river,  along  its  northwestern  shore,  to  the 
beginning. 

Art.  I.  §  1.  The  powers  of  the  government  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  shall  be 
divided  into  three  distinct  departments,  and  each  of  them  be  confided  to  a  separate 
body  of  magistracy,  to  wit:  Those  which  are  legislative,  to  one;  those  which  are 
executive,  to  another;  and  those  which  are  judiciary,  to  another. 

§  2.  No  person  or  collection  of  persons  being  one  of  those  departments,  shall 
exercise  any  power  properly  belonging  to  either  of  the  others,  except  as  hereinafter 
expressly  directed  or  permitted. 

Art.  II.  §  1.     The  legislative  authority  of  this  state  shall  be  vested  in  a  general 


534  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

assembly  which  shall  consist  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives,  both  to  be 
elected  by  the  people. 

§  2.  The  first  election  for  senators  and  representatives  shall  commence  on  the 
third  Thursday  of  September  next,  and  continue  for  that  and  the  two  succeeding 
days;  and  the  next  election  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  August,  1820;  and 
forever  after,  elections  shall  be  held  once  in  two  years,  on  the  first  Monday  of  Aug- 
ust, in  each  and  every  county,  at  such  places  therein  as  may  be  provided  by  lav. 

§  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of 
21  years,  who  shall  not  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  an  inhabitant  or  this 
state;  who  shall  not  have  resided  within  the  limits  of  the  county  or  district  in  which 
he  shall  be  chosen  12  months  next  preceeding  his  election,  if  such  county  or  district 
shall  have  been  so  long  erected;  but  if  not,  then  within  the  limits  of  the  county  or 
counties,  district  or  districts  out  of  which  the  same  shall  have  been  taken,  unless  he 
shall  have  been  absent  on  the  public  business  of  the  United  States,  or  of  this  state, 
and  who,  morever,  shall  not  have  paid  a  state  or  county  tax. 

§  4.  The  senators,  at  their  first  session  herein  provided  for,  shall  be  divided  by 
lot  from  their  respective  counties  or  districts,  as  near  as  can  be,  into  two  classes. 
The  seats  of  the  senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the 
second  year,  and  those  of  the  second  class,  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year,  so 
that  one-half  thereof,  as  near  as  possible,  may  be  biennially  chosen  forever  thereafter. 

§  5.  The  number  of  senators  and  representatives  shall,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
general  assembly,  holden  after  the  returns  herein  provided  for  are  made,  be  fixed  by 
the  general  assembly,  and  apportioned  among  the  several  counties  or  districts  to  be 
established  by  law,  according  to  the  number  of  white  inhabitants.  The  number  of 
representatives  shall  not  be  less  than  27,  nor  more  than  36,  until  the  number  of  in- 
habitants within  this  state  shall  amount  to  100,000;  and  the  number  of  senators  shall 
never  be  less  than  one-third,  nor  more  than  one-half  of  the  number  of  representatives. 

§  6.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who  has  not  arrived  at  the  age  of  25  years, 
who  shall  not  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not  have  resided  one 
year  in  the  county  or  district  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen  immediately  preceeding  his 
election,  if  such  county  or  district  shall  have  been  so  long  erected;  but  if  not,  then 
within  the  limits  of  the  county  or  counties,  district  or  districts  out  of  which  the  same 
shall  have  been  taken,  unless  he  shall  have  been  absent  on  the  public  business  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  this  state,  and  shall  not,  moreover,  have  paid  a  state  or  county 
tax. 

§  7.  The  senate  and  house  of  representatives,  when  assembled,  shall  each  choose 
a  speaker  and  other  officers,  (the  speaker  of  the  senate  excepted.)  Each  house  shall 
judge  of  the  qualifications  and  elections  of  its  members,  and  sit  upon  its  own  ad- 
journments. Two-thirds  of  each  house  shall  constiute  a  quorum,  but  a  smaller 
number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members. 

§  8.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  publish  them.  The 
yeas  and  nays  of  the  members,  on  any  question,  shall,  at  the  desire  of  any  two  of 
them,  be  entered  on  the  journals. 

§  9.  Any  two  members  of  either  house  shall  have  liberty  to  dissent  and  protest 
against  any  act  or  resolution  which  they  may  think  injurious  to  the  public,  or  to  any 
individual,  and  have  the  reasons  of  their  dissent  entered  on  the  journals. 

§  10.  Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its  members 
for  disorderly  behavior,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member, 
but  not  a  second  time  for  the  same  cause. 


APPENDIX — CONSTITUTION   OF    l8l8.  535 

§  11.  When  vacancies  happen  in  either  house,  the  governor,  or  the  person  exer- 
cising the  powers  of  governor,  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

§  12.  Senators  and  representatives  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  or 
breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  the  session  of  the  general 
assembly,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same,  and  for  any  speech  or  debate 
in  either  house,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

§  13.  Each  house  may  punish,  by  imprisonment  during  its  session,  any  person 
not  a  member,  who  shall  be  guilty  of  disrespect  to  the  house,  by  any  disorderly  or 
contemptuous  behavior  in  their  presence;  provided  such  imprisonment  shall  not  at 
any  one  time  exceed  24  hours. 

§  14.  The  doors  of  each  house,  and  of  committees  of  the  whole,  shall  be  kept 
•open,  except  in  such  cases  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  house  require  secrecy.  Neither 
house  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  two  days,  nor 
to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 

§  15.  Bills  may  originate  in  either  house,  but  may  be  altered,  amended  or  rejected 
by  the  other. 

§  16.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  on  three  different  days  in  each  house,  unless  in  case 
of  urgency,  three-fourths  of  the  house  where  such  bill  is  so  depending  shall  deem  it 
•expedient  to  dispense  with  this  rule;  and  every  bill  having  passed  both  houses  shall 
be  signed  by  the  speakers  of  their  respective  houses. 

§  1 7.  The  style  of  the  laws  of  this  state  shall  be :  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the  General  Assembly. 

§  18.  The  general  assembly  of  this  state  shall  not  allow  the  following  officers  of 
government  greater  or  smaller  annual  salaries  than  as  follows,  until  the  year  1824: 
The  governor,  $1000;  and  the  secretary  of  state,  $600. 

§  19.  No  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which  he  shall  have 
been  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  this  state,  which  shall  have  been 
■created,  or  the  emoluments  of  which  shall  have  been  increased  during  such  time. 

§  20.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  consequence  of  appro- 
priations made  by  law. 

§  21.  An  accurate  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  public  money 
shall  be  attached  to  and  published  with  the  laws,  at  the  rising  of  each  session  of  the 
■general  assembly. 

§  22.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeaching,  but 
a  majority  of  all  the  members  present  must  concur  in  an  impeachment.  All  im- 
peachments shall  be  tried  by  the  senate,  and  when  sitting  for  that  purpose,  the  sena- 
tors shall  be  upon  oath  or  affirmation  to  do  justice  according  to  law  and  evidence. 
No  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  sena- 
tors present. 

§  23.  The  governor,  and  all  other  civil  officers  under  this  state,  shall  be  liable  to 
impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office;  but  judgment  in  such  cases  shall  not 
extend  further  than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualifiation  to  hold  any  office  of 
honor,  profit,  or  trust  under  this  state.  The  party,  whether  convicted  or  acquitted, 
shall  nevertheless  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment  according 
to  law. 

§  24.  The  first  session  of  the  general  assembly  shall  commence  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  October  next,  and  forever  after  the  general  assembly  shall  meet  on  the  first 
Monday  in  December  next  ensuing  the  election  of  the  members  thereof,  and  at  no 
■other  period,  unless  as  provided  by  this  constitution. 


536  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

§  25.  No  judge  of  any  court  of  law  or  equity,  secretary  of  state,  attorney  general, 
attorney  for  the  state,  register,  clerk  of  any  court  of  record,  sheriff,  or  collector, 
member  of  either  house  of  congress,  or  person  holding  any  lucrative  office  under  the 
United  States,  or  this,  (provided  that  appointments  in  the  militia,  postmasters,  or 
justices  of  the  peace  shall  not  be  considered  lucrative  offices, )  shall  have  a  seat  in  the 
general  assembly;  nor  shall  any  person  holding  an  office  of  honor  or  profit  under 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  hold  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  under  the 
authority  of  this  state. 

§  26.  Every  person  who  shall  be  chosen  or  appointed  to  any  office  of  trust  or 
profit  shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  thereof,  take  an  oath  to  support  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  state,  and  also  an  oath  of  office. 

§  27.  In  all  elections,  all  white  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  21  years,  hav- 
ing resided  in  the  state  six  months  next  preceding  the  election,  shall  enjoy  the  right 
of  an  elector;  but  no  person  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  except  in  the  county  or  district 
in  which  he  shall  actually  reside  at  the  time  of  the  election. 

§  28.     All  votes  shall  be  given  viva  voce  until  altered  by  the  general  assembly. 

§  29.  Electors  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace, 
be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  elections,  and  in  going  to  and 
returning  from  the  same. 

§  30.  The  general  assembly  shall  have  full  power  to  exclude  from  the  privilege 
of  electing  or  being  elected  any  person  convicted  of  bribery,  perjury,  or  any  other 
infamous  crime. 

§  31.  In  the  year  1820,  and  every  fifth  year  thereafter,  an  enumeration  of  all  the 
white  inhabitants  of  the  state  shall  be  made  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  directed  by 
law. 

§  32.  All  bills  for  raising  a  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  house  of  representatives, 
subject,  however,  to  amendment,  or  rejection  as  in  other  cases. 

Art.  III.     §  1.     The  executive  power  of  the  state  shall  be  vested  in  a  governor. 

§  2.  The  first  election  of  governor  shall  commence  on  the  third  Thursday  of 
September  next,  and  continue  for  that  and  the  two  succeeding  days;  and  the  next 
election  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1822. 
And  forever  after,  elections  for  governor  shall  be  held  once  in  four  years,  on  the 
first  Monday  in  August.  The  governor  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  general  assembly,  at  the  same  places  and  in  the  same  manner  that  they 
shall  respectively  vote  for  members  thereof.  The  returns  for  every  election  of  gov- 
ernor shall  be  sealed  up  and  transmitted  to  the  seat  of  government  by  the  returning 
officers,  directed  to  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives,  who  shall  open  and 
publish  them  in  the  presence  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  each  house  of  the 
gteneral  assembly.  The  person  having  the  highest  number  of  votes,  shall  be  gover- 
nor; but  if  two  or  more  be  equal  and  highest  in  votes,  then  one  of  them  shall  be 
chosen  governor  by  joint  ballot  of  both  houses  of  the  general  assembly.  Contested 
elections  shall  be  determined  by  both  houses  of  the  general  assembly  in  such  manner 
as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

§  3.  The  first  governor  shall  hold  his  office  until  the  first  Monday  of  December, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1822,  and  until  another  governor  shall  be  elected  and  quali- 
fied to  office;  and  forever  after  the  governor  shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  four 
years  and  until  another  governor  shall  be  elected  and  qualified;  but  he  shall  not  be 
elegible  for  more  than  four  years  in  any  term  of  eight  years.  He  shall  be  at  least 
30  years  of  age,  and  have  been  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  30  years;  two  years  of 


APPENDIX — CONSTITUTION    OF    l8l8.  537 

which  next  preceding  his  election  he  shall  have  resided  within  the  limits  of  this  state. 

§  4.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  the  general  assembly  information  of  the 
state  of  the  government,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he 
shall  deem  expedient. 

§  5.  He  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  after  conviction,  except 
in  cases  of  impeachment. 

§  6.  The  governor  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  a  salary  for  his  services,  which 
shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the  term  for  which  he  has  been 
elected. 

§  7.  He  may  require  information  in  writing  from  the  officers  in  the  executive 
department,  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and 
shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed. 

§  8.  When  any  officer,  the  right  of  whose  appointment  is,  by  this  constitution, 
vested  in  the  general  assembly,  or  in  the  governor  and  senate,  shall,  during  the  recess, 
die,  or  his  office  by  any  means  become  vacant,  the  governor  shall  have  power  to  fill 
such  vacancy,  by  granting  a  commission,  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  the  next 
session  of  the  general  assembly. 

§  9.  He  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the  general  assembly  by  pro- 
clamation, and  shall  state  to  them  when  assembled,  the  purpose  for  which  they  shall 
have  been  convened. 

§  10.  He  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  this  state,  and  of 
the  militia,  except  when  they  shall  be  called  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

§  n.  There  shall  be  elected  in  each  and  every  county  in  the  said  state,  by  those 
who  are  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  general  assembly,  and  at  the  same  time 
and  places  where  the  election  for  such  members  shall  be  held,  one  sheriff  and  one 
coroner,  whose  election  shall  be  subject  to  such  rules  and  regulations  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  The  said  sheriffs  and  coroners  respectively,  when  elected,  shall  con- 
tinue in  office  two  years,  be  subject  to  removal  and  disqualification,  and  such  other 
rules  and  regulations  as  may  be,  from  time  to  time,  prescribed  by  law. 

§  12.  In  case  of  disagreement  between  the  two  houses  with  respect  to  the  time 
of  adjournment,  the  governor  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  the  general  assembly,  to 
such  time  as  he  thinks  proper,  provided  it  be  not  a  period  beyond  the  next  constitu- 
tional meeting  of  the  same. 

§  13.  A  lieutenant-governor  shall  be  chosed  at  every  election  for  governor,  in  the 
same  manner,  continue  in  office  for  the  same  time,  and  possess  the  same  qualifica- 
tions. In  voting  for  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  the  electors  shall  distinguish 
whom  they  vote  for  as  governor,  and  whom  as  lieutenant-governor. 

§  14.  He  shall,  by  virtue  of  his  office  be  speaker  of  the  senate,  have  a  right, 
when  in  committee  of  the  whole,  to  debate  and  vote  on  all  subjects;  and  whenever 
the  senate  are  equally  divided,  to  give  the  casting  vote. 

§  15.  Whenever  the  government  shall  be  administered  by  the  lieutenant-gover- 
nor, or  he  shall  be  unable  to  attend  as  speaker  of  the  senate,  the  senators  shall  elect 
one  of  their  own  members  as  speaker  for  that  occasion;  and  if,  during  the  vacancy 
of  the  office  of  governor,  the  lieutenant-governor  shall  be  impeached,  removed  from 
office,  refuse  to  qualify,  or  resign,  or  die,  or  be  absent  from  the  state,  the  speaker  of 
the  senate  shall  in  like  manner,  administer  the  government. 

§  16.  The  lieutenant-governor,  while  he  acts  as  speaker  of  the  senate,  shall 
receive  for  his  services,  the  same  compensation,  which  shall,  for  the  same  period  be 
allowed  to  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives  and  no  more;  and  during  the 


538  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL. 

time  he  administers  the  government  as  governor,  he  shall  receive  the  same  compen- 
sation which  the  governor  would  have  received  had  he  been  employed  in  the  duties 
of  his  office. 

§  17.  If  the  lieutenant  governor  shall  be  called  upon  to  administer  the  govern- 
ment, and  shall,  while  in  such  administration  resign,  die,  or  be  absent  from  the  state 
during  the  recess  of  the  general  assembly,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  secretary,  foi 
the  time  being,  to  convene  the  senate  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  speaker. 

§  18.  In  case  of  an  impeachment  of  the  governor,  his  removal  from  office,  death, 
refusal  to  qualify,  resignation  or  absence  from  the  state,  the  lieutenant  governor 
shall  exercise  all  the  power  and  authority  appertaining  to  the  office  of  governor,  until 
the  time  pointed  out  by  this  constitution  for  the  election  of  governor  shall  arrive, 
unless  the  general  assembly  shall  provide  by  law  for  the  election  of  a  governor  to  fill 
such  vacancy. 

§  19.  The  governor  for  the  time  being,  and  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  or  a 
major  part  of  them,  together  with  the  governor,  shall  be  and  are  hereby  constituted 
a  council  to  revise  all  bills  about  to  be  passed  into  laws  by  the  general  assembly;  and 
for  that  purpose  shall  assemble  themselves  from  time  to  time  when  the  general  assem- 
bly shall  be  convened;  for  which  nevertheless  they  shall  not  receive  any  salary  or 
consideration  under  any  pretense  whatever;  and  all  bills  which  have  passed  the 
senate  and  house  of  representatives  shall,  before  they  become  laws,  be  presented  to 
the  said  council  for  their  revisal  and  consideration;  and  if,  upon  such  revisal  and 
consideration,  it  should  appear  improper  to  the  said  council  or  a  majority  of  them, 
that  the  bill  should  become  a  law  of  this  state,  they  shall  return  the  same,  together 
with  their  objections  thereto  in  writing  to  the  senate  or  house  of  representatives  (in 
whichsoever  the  same  shall  have  originated)  who  shall  enter  the  objections  set  down 
by  the  council  at  large  in  their  minutes,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  the  said  bill.  But 
if,  after  such  reconsideration,  the  said  senate  or  house  of  representatives  shall,  not- 
withstanding the  said  objections,  agree  to  pass  the  same  by  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  members  elected,  it  shall,  together  with  the  said  objections,  be  sent  to 
the  other  branch  of  the  general  assembly,  where  it  shall  also  be  reconsidered;  and  if 
approved  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected,  it  shall  become  a  law.  If  any 
bill  shall  not  be  returned  within  10  days  after  it  shall  have  been  presented,  the  same 
shall  be  a  law,  unless  the  general  assembly  shall  by  their  adjournment,  render  a 
return  of  the  said  bill  in  10  days  impracticable;  in  which  case  the  said  bill  shall  be 
returned  on  the  first  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  after  the  expira- 
tion of  the  said  10  days,  or  be  a  law. 

§  20.  The  governor  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  senate,  appoint  a  secretary  of  state,  who  shall  keep  a  fair  register  of  the  official 
acts  of  the  governor,  and  when  required,  shall  lay  the  same  and  all  papers,  minutes 
and  vouchers  relative  thereto,  before  either  branch  of  the  general  assembly  and 
shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall  be  assigned  him  by  law. 

§  21.  The  state  treasurer  and  public  printer  or  printers  for  the  state  shall  be 
appointed  biennially  by  the  joint  vote  of  both  branches  of  the  general  assembly:  Pro- 
vided, that  during  the  recess  of  the  same,  the  governor  shall  have  power  to  fill  such 
vacancies  as  may  happen  in  either  of  said  offices. 

§  22.  The  governor  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  senate,  appoint  all  officers  whose  offices  are  established  by  this  constitution,  or 
shall  be  established  by  law,  and  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  otherwise  pro- 
vided for;  Provided  however,  that  inspectors,  collectors  and  their  deputies,  survey- 


APPENDIX — CONSTITUTION   OF    iSlS. 

■ors  of  the  highways,  constables,  jailors,  and  such  inferior  officers  whose  jurisdiction 
may  be  confined  within  the  limits  of  the  county,  shall  be  appointed  in  such  manner 
as  the  general  assembly  may  prescribe. 

Art.  IV.  §  i.  The  judicial  power  of  this  state  shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme 
court,  and  such  inferior  courts  as  the  general  assembly  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
ordain  and  establish. 

■  §  2.  The  supreme  court  shall  be  holden  at  the  seat  of  government,  and  shall 
have  an  appellate  jurisdiction  only,  except  in  cases  relating  to  the  revenue,  in  cases 
of  mandamus,  and  in  such  cases  of  impeachment  as  may  be  required  to  be  tried 
before  it. 

§  3.  The  supreme  court  shall  consist  in  a  chief  justice  and  three  associates,  any 
two  of  whom  shall  form  a  quorum.  The  number  of  justices  may,  however,  be 
increased  by  the  general  assembly  after  the  year  1824. 

§  4.  The  justices  of  the  supreme  court  and  the  judges  of  the  inferior  courts  shall 
be  appointed  by  joint  ballot  of  both  branches  of  the  general  assembly,  and  commis- 
sioned by  the  governor,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior  until  the 
end  of  the  first  session  of  the  general  assembly,  which  shall  be  begun  and  held  after 
the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1824,  at  which  time  their  commis- 
sions shall  expire:  and  until  the  expiration  of  which  time,  the  said  justices,  respec- 
tively, shall  hold  circuit  courts  in  the  several  counties,  in  such  manner  and  at  such 
times,  and  shall  have  and  exercise  such  jurisdiction  as  the  general  assembly  shall  by 
law  prescribe.  But  ever  after  the  aforesaid  period,  the  justices  of  the  supreme  court 
shall  be  commissioned  during  good  behavior,  and  the  justices  thereof  shall  not  hold 
•circuit  courts  unless  required  by  law. 

§  5.  The  judges  of  the  inferior  courts  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behav- 
ior, but  for  any  reasonable  cause,  which  shall  not  be  sufficient  ground  for  impeach- 
ment, both  the  judges  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  courts  shall  be  removed  from  office 
on  the  address  of  two-thirds  of  each  branch  of  the  general  assembly:  Provided 
always,  that  no  member  of  either  house  of  the  general  assembly,  nor  any  person 
connected  with  a  member  by  consanguinity,  or  affinity,  shall  be  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  such  removal.  The  said  justices  of  the  supreme  court,  during 
their  temporary  appointments,  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $1000,  payable 
quarter-yearly  out  of  the  public  treasury.  The  judges  of  the  inferior  courts,  and  the 
justices  of  the  supreme  court  who  may  be  appointed  after  the  end  of  the  first  session 
of  the  general  assembly,  which  shall  be  begun  and  held  after  the  first  day  of  Janu- 
ary, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1824,  shall  have  adequate  and  competent  salaries,  which 
shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office. 

§  6.  The  supreme  court,  or  a  majority  of  the  justices  thereof,  the  circuit  courts, 
or  the  justices  thereof,  shall,  respectively,  appoint  their  own  clerks. 

§  7.  All  process,  writs  and  other  proceedings  shall  run  in  the  name  of:  The 
people  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  All  prosecutions  shall  be  carried  on:  In  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  conclude :  Against 
the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  same. 

§  8.  A  competent  number  of  justices  of  the  peace  shall  be  appointed  in  each 
county  in  such  manner  as  the  general  assembly  may  direct,  whose  time  of  service, 
power,  and  duties  shall  be  regulated  and  defined  by  law.  And  justices  of  the  peace, 
when  so  appointed,  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  governor. 

Art.  V.  §  1.  The  militia  of  the  State  of  Illinois  shall  consist  of  all  free  male 
able-bodied  persons,  negroes,  mulattoes  and  Indians  excepted,  resident  in  the  state, 


540  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 

between  the  ages  of  18  and  45  years,  except  such  persons  as  now  are,  or  hereafter 
may  be,  exempted  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States  or  of  this  state,  and  shall  be 
armed,  equipped  and  trained  as  the  general  assembly  may  provide  by  law. 

§  2.  No  person  or  persons,  conscientiously  scrupulous  of  bearing  arms,  shall  be 
compelled  to  do  militia  duty  in  time  of  peace,  provided  such  person  or  persons  shall 
pay  an  equivalent  for  such  exemption. 

§  3.  Company,  battalion  and  regimental  officers,  staff  officers  excepted,  shall  be 
elected  by  the  persons  composing  their  several  companies,  battalions,  and  regiments. 

§  4.  Brigadier  and  major  generals  shall  be  elected  by  the  officers  of  their  brigades 
and  divisions  respectively. 

§  5.  All  militia  officers  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  governor,  and  may  hold 
their  commissions  during  good  behavior,  or  until  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years. 

§  6.  The  militia  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace, 
be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  musters  and  elections  of  officers, 
and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same. 

Art.  VI.  §  1.  Neither  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  shall  hereafter  be  intro- 
duced into  this  state,  otherwise  than  for  the  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted;  nor  shall  any  male  person,  arrived  at  the  age  of  21 
years,  nor  female  person  arrived  at  the  age  of  18  years,  be  held  to  serve  any  person 
as  a  servant,  under  any  indenture  hereafter  made,  unless  such  person  shall  enter  into 
such  indenture  while  in  a  state  of  perfect  freedom,  and  on  condition  of  a  bona-fide 
consideration  received  or  to  be  received  for  their  service.  Nor  shall  any  indenture 
of  any  negro  or  mulatto,  hereafter  made  and  executed  out  of  this  state,  or  if  made 
in  this  state,  where  the  term  of  service  exceeds  one  year,  be  of  the  least  validity, 
except  those  given  in  cases  of  apprenticeship. 

§  2.  No  person  bound  to  labor  in  any  other  state,  shall  be  hired  to  labor  in  this 
state,  except  within  the  tract  reserved  for  the  salt  works  near  Shawneetown;  nor  even 
at  that  place  for  a  longer  period  than  one  year  at  any  one  time;  nor  shall  it  be 
allowed  there  after  the  year  1825:  any  violation  of  this  article  shall  effect  the  eman- 
cipation of  such  person  from  his  obligation  to  service. 

§  3.  Each  and  every  person  who  has  been  bound  to  service  by  contract  or  inden- 
ture in  virtue  of  the  law  of  Illinois  territory  heretofore  existing,  and  in  conformity 
to  the  provisions  of  the  same,  without  fraud  or  collusion,  shall  be  held  to  a  specific 
performance  of  their  contracts  or  indentures;  and  such  negroes  and  mulattoes  as 
have  been  registered  in  conformity  with  the  aforesaid  laws,  shall  serve  out  the  time 
appointed  by  said  laws:  Provided  however,  that  the  children  hereafter  born  of  such 
person,  negroes  or  mulattoes,  shall  become  free,  the  males  at  the  age  of  21  years, 
the  females  at  the  age  of  18  years.  Each  and  every  child  born  of  indentured  par- 
ents, shall  be  entered  with  the  clerk  of  the  county  in  which  they  reside,  by  their 
owners,  within  six  months  after  the  birth  of  said  child. 

Art.  VII.  g  1.  Whenever  two-thirds  of  the  general  assembly  shall  think  it 
necessary  to  alter  or  amend  this  constitution,  they  shall  recommend  to  the  electors, 
at  the  next  election  of  members  to  the  general  assembly,  to  vote  for  or  against  a 
convention;  and  if  it  shall  appear  that  a  majority  of  all  the  citizens  of  the  state, 
voting  for  representatives,  have  voted  for  a  convention,  the  general  assembly  shall, 
at  their  next  session,  call  a  convention,  to  consist  of  as  many  members  as  there  may 
be  in  the  general  assembly,  to  be  chosen  in  the  same  manner,  at  the  same  place,  and 
by  the  same  electors  that  choose  the  general  assembly,  and  which  convention  shall 


APPENDIX — CONSTITUTION   OF    l8l8.  541 

meet  within  three  months  after  the  said  election,  for  the  purpose  of  revising,  altering, 
or  amending  this  constitution. 

Art.  VIII.  That  the  general,  great  and  essential  principles  of  liberty  and  free 
government  may  be  recognized  and  unalterably  established,  we  declare : 

§  1.  That  all  men  are  born  equally  free  and  independent,  and  have  certain  inher- 
ent and  indefeasible  rights;  among  which  are  those  of  enjoying  and  defending  life 
and  liberty,  and  of  acquiring,  possessing  and  protecting  property  and  reputation, 
and  of  pursuing  their  own  happiness. 

§  2.  That  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  and  all  free  governments  are  founded 
on  their  authority,  and  instituted  for  their  peace,  safety,  and  happiness. 

§  3.  That  all  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right  to  worship  Almighty  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences;  that  no  man  can  of  right  be  com- 
pelled to  attend,  erect,  or  support  any  place  of  worship,  or  to  maintain  any  ministry 
against  his  consent;  that  no  human  authority  can,  in  any  case  whatever,  control  or 
interfere  with  the  rights  of  conscience;  and  that  no  preference  shall  ever  be  given  by 
law  to  any  religious  establishments  or  modes  of  worsl 

§  4.  That  no  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualifiation  to  any  office  or  public 
trust  under  this  state. 

§  5.     That  elections  shall  be  free  and  equal. 

§  6.     That  the  right  of  the  trial  by  jury  shall  remain  inviolate. 

§  7.  That  the  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  posses- 
sions, from  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures;  and  that  general  warrants  whereby  an 
officer  may  be  commanded  to  search  suspected  places  without  evidence  of  the  fact 
committed,  or  to  seize  any  person  or  persons  not  named,  whose  offenses  are  not 
particularly  described  and  supported  by  evidence,  are  dangerous  to  liberty,  and  ought 
not  to  be  granted. 

§  8.  That  no  freeman  shall  be  imprisoned  or  disseized  of  his  freehold,  liberties,  or 
privileges,  or  outlawed  or  exiled,  or  in  any  manner  deprived  of  his  life,  liberty,  or 
property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers  or  the  law  of  the  land.  And  all  lands 
which  have  been  granted  as  a  common  to  the  inhabitants  of  any  town,  hamlet  village, 
or  corporation,  by  any  person,  body  politic  or  corporate,  or  by  any  government  hav- 
ing power  to  make  such  grant,  shall  forever  remain  common  to  the  inhabitants  of 
such  town,  hamlet,  village,  or  corporation;  and  the  said  commons  shall  not  be  leased, 
sold,  or  divided  under  any  pretense  whatever :  Provided  however,  that  nothing  in 
this  section  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  commons  of  Cahokia  or  Prairie  du 
Pont :  Provided  also,  that  the  general  assembly  shall  have  power  and  authority  to 
grant  the  same  privileges  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  villages  of  Cahokia  and 
Prairie  du  Pont  as  are  hereby  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  other  towns,  hamlets  and 
villages. 

§  9.  That  in  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  hath  a  right  to  be  heard  by 
himself  and  counsel;  to  demand  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  against  him; 
to  meet  the  witnesses  face  to  face;  to  have  compulsary  process  to  compel  the  attend- 
ance of  witnesses  in  his  favor.  And  in  prosecutions  by  indictment  or  information,  a 
speedy  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  vicinage;  and  that  he  shall  not  be 
compelled  to  give  evidence  against  himself. 

§  10.  That  no  person  shall,  for  any  indictable  offense,  be  proceeded  against  crim- 
inally by  information,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  the  militia 
when  in  actual  service,  in  time  of  war,  or  public  danger,  by  leave  of  the  courts,  for 
oppression  or  misdemeanor  in  office.  ^ 


542  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

§  II.  No  person  shall,  for  the  same  offense,  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  his  life 
or  limb;  nor  shall  any  man's  property  be  taken  or  applied  to  public  use,  without  the 
consent  of  his  representatives  in  the  general  assembly,  nor  without  just  compensation 
being  made  to  him. 

§  12.  Every  person  within  this  state  ought  to  find  a  certain  remedy  in  the  laws, 
tor  ill  injuries  or  wrongs  which  he  may  receive  in  his  person,  property  or  character; 
he  ought  to  obtain  right  and  justice  freely,  and  without  being  obliged  to  purchase  it, 
completely  and  without  denial,  promptly  and  without  delay,  conformably  to  the  laws. 

§  13.  That  all  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties,  unless  for  capital 
offenses,  where  the  proof  is  evident  or  the  presumption  great;  and  the  privilege  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion 
or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

§  14.  All  penalties  shall  be  proportioned  to  the  nature  of  the  offense,  the  true 
design  of  all  punishments  being  to  reform,  not  to  exterminate  mankind. 

§  15.  No  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt,  unless  upon  refusal  to  deliver  up 
his  estate  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by- 
law, or  in  cases  where  there  is  strong  presumption  of  fraud. 

§  16.  No  ex  post  facto  law,  nor  any  law  impairing  the  validity  of  contracts  shall 
ever  be  made;  and  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture  of  estate. 

§  17.  That  no  person  shall  be  liable  to  be  transported  out  of  this  state  for  any 
offence  committed  within  the  same. 

§  18.  That  a  frequent  recurrence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  govern- 
ment is  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve  the  blessings  of  liberty. 

i;  19.  That  the  people  have  a  right  to  assemble  together  in  a  peaceable  manner  to 
consult  for  their  common  good,  to  instruct  their  representatives,  and  to  apply  to  the 
general  assembly  for  redress  of  grievances. 

§  20.  That  the  mode  of  levying  a  tax  shall  be  by  valuation,  so  that  every  person 
shall  pay  a  tax  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  property  he  or  she  has  in  his  or  her 
possession. 

§  21.  That  there  shall  be  no  other  banks  or  moneyed  institutions  in  this  state  than 
those  already  provided  by  law,  except  a  state  bank  and  its  branches,  which  may  be 
established  and  regulated  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  state  as  they  may  think 
proper. 

§  22.  The  printing  presses  shall  be  free  to  every  person,  who  undertakes  to 
examine  the  proceedings  of  the  general  assembly  or  of  any  branch  of  government; 
and  no  law  shall  ever  be  made  to  restrain  the  right  thereof.  The  free  communication 
of  thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable  rights  of  man,  and  every  citizen 
may  freely  speak,  write,  and  print  on  any  subject,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of 
that  liberty. 

§  23.  In  prosecutions  for  the  publication  of  papers  investigating  the  official  con- 
duct of  officers,  or  of  men  acting  in  a  public  capacity,  or  where  the  matter  published 
is  proper  for  public  information,  the  truth  thereof  may  be  given  in  evidence.  And 
in  all  indictments  for  libels,  the  jury  shall  have  the  right  of  determining  both  the 
law  and  the  fact,  under  the  direction  of  the  court  as  in  other  cases. 

Schedule.  §  I.  That  no  inconveniences  may  arise  from  the  change  of  a  terri- 
torial to  a  permanent  state  government,  it  is  declared  by  the  convention,  that  all 
rights,  suits,  actions,  prosecutions,  claims,  and  contracts,  both  as  it  respects  individ- 
uals and  bodies  corporate,  shall  continue  as  if  no  change  had  taken  place  in  this 
government  in  virtue  of  the  laws  now  in  force. 


APPENDIX — CONSTITUTION    OF    l8l8.  543: 

§  2.  All  fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures  due  and  owing  to  the  territory  of  Illinois- 
shall  inure  to  the  use  of  the  state.  All  bonds  executed  to  the  governor,  or  to  any 
other  officer  in  his  official  capacity  in  the  territory,  shall  pass  over  to  the  governor 
or  to  the  officers  of  the  state,  and  their  successors  in  office,  for  the  use  of  the  state, 
by  him  or  by  them  to  be  respectively  assigned  over  to  the  use  of  those  concerned,  as 
the  case  may  be. 

§  3.  No  sheriff  or  collector  of  public  moneys,  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  in, 
this  state,  until  they  have  paid  over  according  to  law,  all  moneys  which  they  may 
have  collected  by  virtue  of  their  respective  offices. 

§  4.  There  shall  be  elected  in  each  county,  three  county  commissioners  for  the 
purpose  of  transacting  all  county  business,  whose  time  of  service,  power,  and  duties 
shall  be  regulated  and  defined  by  law. 

§  5.  The  governor,  secretary,  and  judges,  and  all  other  officers  under  the  territor- 
ial government  shall  continue  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of  their  respective  depart- 
ments until  the  said  officers  are  superceded  under  the  authority  of  this  constitution. 

§  6.  The  governor  of  this  state  shall  make  use  of  his  private  seal,  until  a  state 
seal  shall  be  provided. 

§  7.  The  oaths  of  office  herein  directed  to  be  taken,  may  be  administered  by  any 
justice  of  the  peace  until  the  general  assembly  shall  otherwise  direct. 

§  8.  Until  the  first  census  shall  lie  taken  as  directed  by  this  constitution,  the 
county  of  Madison  shall  be  entitled  to  one  senator  and  three  representatives;  the 
county  of  St.  Clair,  to  one  senator  and  three  representatives  the  county  of  Bond,  to- 
one  senator  ?nd  one  representative;  the  county  of  Washington,  to  one  senator  and 
one  representative;  the  county  of  Monroe,  to  one  senator  and  one  representative; 
the  county  of  Randolph,  to  one  senator  and  two  representative;;  the  county  of 
Jackson,  to  one  senator  and  one  representative;  the  counties  of  Johnson  and  Frank- 
lin to  form  one  senatorial  district,  and  to  be  entitled  to  one  senator,  and  each  county 
to  one  representative;  the  county  of  Union,  to  one  senator  and  two  representatives; 
the  county  of  Pope,  to  one  senator  and  two  representatives;  the  county  of  Callatin, 
to  one  senator  and  three  representatives;  the  county  of  White,  to  one  senator  and 
three  representatives;  the  county  of  Edwards,  to  one  senator  and  two  representatives; 
and  the  county  of  Crawford,  to  one  senator  and  two  representatives. 

§  9.  The  president  of  the  convention  shall  issue  writs  of  election  directed  to  the 
several  sheriffs  of  the  several  counties,  or  in  case  of  the  absence  or  disability  of  any 
sheriff,  then  to  the  deputy  sheriff,  and  in  case  of  the  absence  or  disability  of  the 
deputy  sheriff,  then  such  writ  to  be  directed  to  the  coroner,  requiring  them  to  cause 
an  election  to  be  held  for  governor,  lieutenant  governor,  representative  to  the  present 
congress  of  the  United  States,  and  members  to  the  general  assembly,  and  sheriffs 
and  coroners  in  the  respective  counties;  such  election  to  commence  on  the  third 
Thursday  of  September  next,  and  to  continue  for  that  and  the  two  succeeding  days; 
and  which  election  shall  be  conducted  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  existing  elec- 
tion laws  of  the  Illinois  territory;  and  the  said  governor,  lieutenant  governor,  mem- 
bers of  the  general  assembly,  sheriffs,  and  coroners,  then  duly  elected,  shall  continue 
to  exercise  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices  for  the  time  prescribed  by  this  con- 
stitution, and  until  their  successor  or  successors  are  qualified,  and  no  longer. 

§  10.  An  auditor  of  public  accounts,  an  attorney  general,  and  such  other  officers 
for  the  state  as  may  be  necessary,  may  be  appointed  by  the  general  assembly,  whose 
duties  may  be  regulated  by  law. 

§  11.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  general  assembly  to  enact  such  laws  as  may  be 
necessary  and  proper  to  prevent  the  practice  of  dueling. 


544 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL. 


§  12.  All  white  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  21  years,  who  shall  be  actual 
residents  of  this  state,  at  the  signing  of  this  constitution,  shall  have  a  right  to  a  vote 
at  the  election  to  be  held  on  the  third  Thursday  and  the  two  following  days  of 
September  next. 

§  13.  The  seat  of  government  for  the  state  shall  be  at  Kaskaskia  until  the  gen- 
eral assembly  shall  otherwise  provide.  The  general  assembly,  at  their  first  session 
holden  under  the  authority  of  this  constitution,  shall  petition  the  congress  of  the 
United  States,  to  grant  to  this  state  a  quantity  of  land,  to  consist  of  not  more  than 
four,  nor  less  than  one  section,  or  to  give  to  this  state  the  right  of  preemption  in  the 
purchase  of  the  said  quantity  of  land.  The  said  land  to  be  situate  on  the  Kaskaskia 
river,  and  as  near  as  may  be,  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian  on  said  river. 
Should  the  prayer  of  such  petition  be  granted,  the  general  assembly,  at  their  next 
session  thereafter,  shall  provide  for  the  appointment  of  five  commissioners  to  make 
the  selection  of  said  land  so  granted;  and  shall  further  provide  for  laying  out  a  town 
upon  the  said  land  so  selected;  which  town,  so  laid  out,  shall  be  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment of  this  state  for  the  term  of  20  years.  Should,  however,  the  prayer  of  said 
petition  not  be  granted,  the  general  assembly  shall  have  power  to  make  such  provi- 
sion for  a  permanent  seat  of  government  as  may  be  necessary,  and  shall  fix  the  same 
where  they  may  think  best. 

§  14.  Any  person  of  30  years  of  age  who  is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and 
has  resided  within  the  limits  of  this  state  two  years  next  preceding  his  election,  shall 
be  eligible  to  the  office  of  lieutenant  governor:  anything  in  §  13  Art.  III.  of  this 
constitution  contained  to 'he  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Done  in  convention  r  *  Kaskaskia,  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  of  the  Independence 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  forty-third. 

In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names : 

Jesse  B.  Thomas, 
President  of  the  convention  and  representative  from  the  county  of  St.  Clair. 


J  St.  Clair  County. 


Randolph 

County. 

/  Madison 

(  County. 


James  Lemon,  jr, 

George  Fisher, 
Elias  Kent  Kane, 

B[enj].  Stephenson, 
Joseph  Borough, 
Abraham  Prickett, 

Michael  Jones, 

Leonard  White, 

AdolphusF'd'k  Hubbard  )    <-0Uluy 

Hkzekiah  West,  \  Johnson 

William  M'Fatridge,  \       County 
Seth  Gard,  )  -n. ,        ,   n 

Levi  Compton,    \  Edwai 
Willis  Hargrave, 
William  M 'Henry 


Monroe  County. 
I 


I 


Pope  County. 


I 


Gallatin 


i.\ 


White  Co. 


Caldwell  Cairns 
Enoch  Moore, 

Samuel  Omelvany, 
Hamlet  Ferguson, 

Conrad  Will,     )  T    ,         ,-. 
James  Hall,  jr.    |  Jackson  County- 

Joseph  Kitchell 
Ed.  N.  Cullom, 

Thos.  Kilpatrick,  ) 
Samuel  G.  Morse,  f 

William  Echols, 
John  WHITEAKER, 
Andrew  Bankson, 

Isham  Harrison, 
Thomas  Roberts, 


Crawford  Co. 

Bond  County. 

Union  County. 
Washington  Co. 
Franklin  Cou'ty. 


Attest,        Wm.  C.  Greenup, 

Secretary  to  the  Convention. 


APPENDIX.  545 

Ordinance  accepting  the  Enabling  Act. 

Adopted  at  Kaskaskia,  26  August,  1818,  by  the  convention  which  framed  the 
first  constitution  of  Illinois. 

WHEREAS,  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  in  the  act  entitled  "An  act  to 
enable  the  people  of  the  Illinois  territory  to  form  a  constitution  and  state 
government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such  state  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  original  states,"  passed  the  18th  of  April,  1818,  have  offered  to  this  con- 
vention for  their  free  acceptance  or  rejection,  the  following  propositions,  which,  if 
accepted  by  the  convention,  are  obligatory  upon  the  United  States,  viz.: 

(Sections  1,  2,  3,  and  4,  are  omitted  —  the  same  being  copied  from  the  enabling 
act  in  section  6  above. ) 

And  whereas,  the  four  foregoing  propositions  are  offered  on  the  condition  that  this 
convention  shall  provide  by  ordinance,  irrevocable  without  the  consent  of  the  United 
States,  that  every  and  each  tract  of  land  sold  by  the  United  States,  from  and  after 
the  first  day  of  January,  181 9,  shall  remain  exempt  from  any  tax  laid  by  order,  or 
under  the  authority  of  the  state,  whether  for  state,  county,  or  township,  or  any  other 
purpose  whatever,  for  the  term  of  five  years  from  and  after  the  day  of  sale.  And 
further,  that  the  bounty  lands  granted,  or  hereafter  to  be  granted  for  military  services 
during  the  late  war,  shall,  while  they  continue  to  be  held  by  the  patentees  or  their 
heirs,  remain  exempt  as  aforesaid  from  all  taxes  for  the  term  of  three  years  from  and 
after  the  date  of  the  patents  respectively;  and  that  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  residing  without  the  said  state  shall  never  be  taxed 
higher  than  lands  belonging  to  persons  residing  therein. 

Therefore,  this  convention,  on  behalf  of,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  people  of  the 
state,  do  accept  of  the  foregoing  propositions;  and  do  further  ordain  and  declare, 
that  every  and  each  tract  of  land  sold  by  the  United  States,  from  and  after  the  first 
day  of  January,  1819,  shall  remain  exempt  from  any  tax  laid  by  order,  or  under  any 
authority  of  the  state,  whether  for  state,  county,  or  township,  or  any  purpose  what- 
ever, for  the  term  of  five  years  from  and  after  the  day  of  sale.  And  that  the  bounty 
lands  granted,  or  hereafter  to  be  granted,  for  military  services  during  the  late  war, 
shall,  while  they  continue  to  be  held  by  the  patentees  or  their  heirs,  remain  exempt, 
as  aforesaid,  from  all  taxes  for  the  term  of  three  years  from  and  after  the  date  of  the 
patents  respectively;  and  that  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  residing  without  the  said  state,  shall  never  be  taxed  higher  than  lands  belong- 
ing to  persons  residing  therein.  And  this  convention  do  further  ordain  and  declare, 
that  the  foregoing  ordinance  shall  not  be  revoked  without  the  consent  of  the  United 
Slates. 


Resolution  of  Congress,  December  3,  1818. 

Declaring  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Illinois  into  the  Union. 

WHEREAS,  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  congress,  passed  on  the  i8th  day  of 
April,  1818,  entitled  "An  act  to  enable  the  people  of  the  Illinois  territory 
to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government,  and  for  the  admission  of  such  state  into 
the  Union,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states,"  the  people  of  the  said  terri- 
tory did,  on  the  26th  day  of  August,  in  the  present  year,  by  a  convention  called  for 
that  purpose,  form  for  themselves  a  constitution  and  state  government,  which  con- 

35 


546  ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL. 

stitution  and  state  government,  so  formed,  is  republican,  and  in  conformity  to  the 
principles  of  the  articles  of  compact  between  the  original  states  and  the  people  and 
states  in  the  territory  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  passed  on  the  13th  day  of  July, 
1787:  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  that  the  State  of  Illinois  shall  be  one  and  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  one  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  admitted  into  the 
Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states,  in  all  respects  whatever. 


Congressional  Apportionment  under  the  Constitution 

of  1818. 

UNTIL  1832,  the  State  constituted  one  congressional  district.     Under  the  act  of 
February  13,  1831,  it  was  divided  into  three  districts  as  follows: 

First  District  —  The  counties  of  Alexander,  Bond,  Clinton,  Franklin,  Gallatin, 
Jackson,  Johnson,  Macoupin,  Madison,  Monroe,  Perry,  Pope,  Randolph,  St.  Clair, 
Union,  and  Washington. 

Second  District  —  Clark,  Clay,  Coles,  Crawford,  Edgar,  Edwards,  Fayette,  Hamil- 
ton, Jefferson,  Lawrence,  Marion,  Montgomery,  Shelby,  Vermilion,  Wabash,  Wayne, 
and  White. 

Third  District  —  Adams,  Calhoun,  Cook,  Fulton,  Greene,  Hancock,  Henry,  Jo 
Daviess,  Knox,  LaSalle,  Macon,  McDonough,  McLean,  Mercer,  Morgan,  Peoria,. 
Pike,  Putnam,  Sangamon,  Schuyler,  Tazewell,  and  Warren. 

Under  the  act  of  March  1,  1843,  the  State  was  divided  into  seven  districts  as 
follows : 

First  District  —  The  counties  of  Alexandria,  Bond,  Jackson,  Madison,  Monroe, 
Perry,  Randolph,  St.  Clair,  Union,  and  Washington. 

Second  District  —  Edwards,  Franklin,  Gallatin,  Hamilton,  Hardin,  Jefferson, 
Johnson,  Pope,  Marion,  Massac,  Wabash,  Wayne,  White,  and  Williamson. 

Third  District—  Christian,  Clark,  Clay,  Coles,  Crawford,  DeWitt,  Edgar,  Effing- 
ham, Fayette,  Jasper,  Lawrence,  Macon,  Montgomery,  Moultrie,  Piatt,  Richland,  and 
Shelby. 

Fourth  District — Boone,  Bureau,  Champaign,  Cook,  DeKalb,  Dupage,  Grundy, 
Iroquois,  Kane,  Kendall,  Lake,  LaSalle,  Livingston,  McHenry,  McLean,  Vermilion, 
and  Will. 

Fifth  District  —  Adams,  Brown,  Calhoun,  Fulton,  Greene,  Jersey,  Macoupin, 
Marquette,  Peoria,  Pike,  ar,d  Schuyler. 

Sixth  District — Carroll,  Hancock,  Henderson,  Henry,  Jo  Daviess,  Knox,  Lee, 
McDonough,  Mercer,  Ogle,  Rock  Island,  Stark,  Stephenson,  Warren,  Whiteside, 
and  Winnebago. 

Seventh  District  —  Cass,  Logan,  Marshall,  Mason,  Menard,  Morgan,  Putnam,. 
Sangamon,  Scott,  Tazewell,  and  Woodford- 


Table  showing  the  Genesis  and  Growth  of  Counties. 


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*  The  author  is  indebted  to  Wm.  R.  Sandham  of  Wyoming,  111.,  for  valuable 
information  in  preparing  this  table. 

+  The  census  of  1845  includes  that  of  Marquette  County,  5888,  established  Feb. 
11,  1843,  and  the  name  changed  to  Highland,  Feb.  27,  1847,  to  be  reorganized  after 
favorable  vote;  failing  to  organize,  the  territory  reverted  to  Adams  County. 


548 


ILLINOIS— HISTORICAL  AND    STATISTICAL. 


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*  From  Col.  John  Hardin  of  Kentucky,     t  From  Col.  Rich'd  Henderson  of  Ky. 

Note. — The  name  of  Illinois,  the  first  county  established  in  the  State  by  Virginia 
in  1778,  was  changed  under  the  organization  of  the  Northwest  Territory  to  that  of 
St.  Clair,  in  March,  1790.     Randolph  was  established  in  1795.     These  two  counties 


APPENDIX — GEN..SIS   AND   GROWTH    OF   COUNTIES.       549 


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were  reeNtablished  and  continued  with  the  same  names  and  boundaries  by  the  Illinois 
territorial  government  in  1809.     Their  population  in  1S00  was  reported  as  follows: 
Randolph,  1103;  St.  Clair,  1255;  and  in  1810:  Randolph,  7275;  St.  Clair,  5007. 
*  From  Gen.  Charles  Scott,  governor  of  Kentucky 


550 


ILLINOIS — HISTORICAL    AND   STATISTICAL 


State  Officers  under  the  Constitution  of  1818: 


NAME. 

Shadrach  Bond, 
Edward  Coles, 
Ninian  Edwards, 
John  Reynolds, 
Wm,  Lee  D.  Ewing, H 
Joseph  Duncan, 
Thomas  Carlin, 
Thomas  Ford, 
Augustus  C.  French, 


GOVERNORS : 

PLACE   AND   DATE   OF   BIRTH. 

Frederick  Co.,  Md.,  1773, 
Virginia,  Dec.  15,  1786, 
Maryland,  Mar.  17,  1775, 
Penn.,  Feb.  26,  1788, 
Kentucky,  1794, 
Kentucky,  Feb.  22,  1794, 
Kentucky,  July  18,  1789, 
Penn.,  Dec.  5,  1800, 
N.H.,  Aug.  2,  1808, 


INAUGURATED. 

Oct.  6,  181 8, 
Dec.  5,  1822, 
Dec.  6,  1826, 
Dec.  9,  1830, 
Nov.  17,  1834, 
Dec.  3,  1834, 
Dec.  7>  1838, 
Dec.  8,  1842, 
Dec.  9,  1S46, 


Apr.  12,  1832. 
July  7,  1868. 
July  20,  1833.. 
May  8,  1865. 
Mar.  26,  1846. 
Jan.  15,  1844. 
Feb.  14,  1832. 
Nov.  3,  1850. 
Sept.  4,  1864. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS : 


NAME. 


Pierre  Menard, 
Adolphus  Fred'k  Hubbard, 
William  Kinney,     - 
Zadok  Casey,     - 
Wm.  Lee  D.  Ewing, 
Alexander  M.  Jenkins, 
William  H.  Davidson, 
Stinson  H.  Anderson, 
John  Moore, 
Joseph  B.  Wells, 


INAUGURATED. 

Oct.  6,  1818, 
Dec.  5,  1S22, 
Dec.  6,  1826, 
Dec.  9,  1830, 
Mar.  1,  1833, 
Dec.  S,  1834, 
Dec.  9,  1836, 
Dec.  7,  1S38, 
Dec.  9,  1842, 
Dec.  5,  1846, 


FROM  WHAT  COUNTV. 


REMARKS. 


Randolph, 

Callatin, 

St.  Clair, 

Jefferson, 

Fayette, 

Jackson, 

White, 

Jefferson, 

McLean, 

Rock  Island. 


died  June  14,  1844. 

born  in  Ky.,  1781. 
resigned  Mar.  1,  1833. 
pres.  of  senate  and  act- 
resigned,  [ing  It. -gov. 
pres.  of  senate  and  act- 
ting  It. -gov. 
born  1793,  died  1863. 


SECRETARIES   OF   STATE; 


Elias  Kent  Kane,    - 
Samuel  D.  Lockwood, 
David  Blackwell,    - 
Morris  Birkbeck, 
George  Forquer, 
Alexander  Pope  Field, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
Lyman  Trumbull, 
Thompson  Campbell, 
Horace  S.  Cooley,     - 


Oct. 

Dec. 

Apr. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

Dec. 

Nov. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Dec. 


6,  1818, 
18,  1822, 

2,    1823, 

15,  1824, 
17,  1825, 
31,  1828, 
30,  1840, 
27,  1841, 

4»  1843. 
23,  1846, 


Randolph, 

Madison, 

St.  Clair, 

Edwards, 

Sangamon, 

Union, 

Morgan, 

St.  Clair, 

Jo  Daviess, 

Adams, 


resigned  Dec.  16, 1822. 
resigned  Apr.  2,  1823. 
resigned  Oct.  15,  1S24. 
resigned  Jan.  15, 1825. 
resigned  Dec.  31, 1S2S. 
rem'v'd  Nov.  30,  1 840. 
resigned  Feb.  27, 1841. 
removed  Mar.  4,  1S43. 
resigned  Dec.  23, 1846. 
elected  in  1848. 


AUDITORS  OF  PUBLIC  ACCOUNTS: 


Elijah  C.  Berry, 
James  T.  B.  Stapp,    - 
Levi  Davis,    - 
James  Shields,   - 
Wm.  Lee  D.  Ewing, 
Thomas  H.  Campbell, 


Oct.  9,  181 S, 
Aug.  27,  1831, 
Nov.  16,  1835, 
Mar.  4,  1 84 1, 
Mar.  2,  1843, 
Mar.  26,  1846, 


Fayette, 

Fayette, 

Madison, 

Randolph, 

Fayette, 

Randolph, 


continued  in  office 

[until  1 83 1. 

resigned.  [Mar.  26,  '46. 
reelected  Feb. '45;  died 
elec.  byG.A.  Jan.  7/47 


Vice  Reynolds,  who,  on  being  elected  to  congress,  resigned  Nov.  17,  1834. 


APPENDIX — STATE   OFFICERS. 


551 


NAME. 

John  Thomas, 
Robert  K.  McLaughlin, 
Abner  Field, 
James  Hall, 
John  Dement, 
Charles  Gregory, 
John  D.  Whiteside, 
Milton  Carpenter, 


STATE  TREASURERS: 

INAUGURATED.   FROM  WHAT  COUNTY. 

Oct.,  1818, 
Aug.  2,  1 8 19, 
Jan.  14,  1823, 
Feb.  12,  1827, 


REMARKS. 


Feb.  5,  1831, 
Feb.  5,  1S36, 
Mar.  4.  1837, 
Mar.  6,  1841, 


St.  Clair, 

Fayette, 

Union, 

Gallatin, 

Franklin, 

Greene, 

Monroe, 

Hamilton, 


resigned  Dec.  3,  1836. 


reelected  Jan.  2,  1847. 


ATTORNEY- GENERALS : 


Daniel  Pope  Cook, 
William  Mears, 
Samuel  D.  Lockwoon,    - 
James  Turney,  - 
George  Forquer, 
James  Semple,  - 
Xinian  W.  Edwards, 
Jesse  Burgess  Thomas,  jr., 
Walter  B.  Scates,   - 
Usher  F.  Linder, 
George  W.  Olney, 
Wickliffe  Kitchell,      - 
Josiah  Lamborn,    - 
James  Allen  McDougall, 
David  B.  Campbell,  - 


William  M.  Alexander, 
Elijah  C.  Berry, 
James  W.  Berry,     - 
Moses  K.  Anderson, 


Mar.  5,  1819, 
Dec.  14,  1819, 
Feb.  26,  1 82 1, 
Jan.  14,  1823, 
Jan.  23,  1829, 
Jan.  30,  1833, 
Sept.  1,  1834, 
Feb.  12,  1835, 
Jan.  18,  1836, 
Feb.  4,  1837, 
June  26,  1838, 
Mar.  5,  1839, 
Dec.  23,  1840, 
Jan.  12,  1843, 
Dec.  21,  1846, 


Randolph, 

St.  Clair, 

Madison, 

Washington, 

Monroe, 

Madison, 

Sangamon, 

Madison, 

Jefferson, 

Coles, 

Madison, 

Crawford, 

Morgan, 

Morgan, 

Sangamon, 


ADJUTANT- GENERALS: 

Apr.  24,  1819,  Randolph, 

June  11,  1 82 1,  Fayette, 

Dec.  19,  1828,  Fayette, 

Dec.  16,  1839,  Sangamon. 


resigned. 

resigned, 
reelected  in  1S25. 
resigned  Dec.  3,  1S32. 
res.      [Jan.  I,  '35;  res. 
app.  and  elec.  by  G.  A. 
resigned  Jan.  8,  1836. 
resigned  Dec.  26, 1836. 
resigned  June  11,  '38. 
resigned  Feb.  1,  1839. 
resigned  Nov.  19, 1840. 


resigned  Nov.  1 1 , 1 S39. 


aarA  Comh.ete  Index  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  next  Volume. 


FERGUS   PRINTING  COMPANY,   CHICAGO. 


V 


FERGUS   PRINTING   COMPANY,   CHICAGO. 

FERGUS'  HISTORICAL  SERIES 

RELATING   TO 

CHICAGO  AND  ILLINOIS. 


1. — Annals  of  Chicago:  A  Lecture  read  before  the  Chicago  Lyceum,  January 
21, 1840.  By  Joseph  N.  Balestier,  Esq.  Republished  from  the  original  edition  of 
1840;  with  an  Introduction,  written  by  the  Author  iu  1876;  and,  also,  a  Review  of  the 
Lecture,  from  the  Chicago  Tribune,  in  1872.    Pp.48:  8vo.    1876.         Price,  25  cents. 

%£. — Fergus'  Directory  of  the  City  of  Chicago — 1839;  with  City  and  County 
Officers,  Churches,  Public  Buildings,  Hotels,  etc. ;  also,  list  of  Sheriffs  of  Cook  County, 
and  Mayors  of  the  City  since  their  organization,  together  with  the  Poll-List  of  the 
first  City  Election  (Tuesday,  May  2, 1837).  List  of  Purchasers  of  Lots  in  Port-Dear- 
born Addition,  the  N  imber  of  the  Lots  and  the  Prices  paid,  etc.,  etc.  (Historical 
Sketch  of  City  compiled  for  Directory  of  1843,  etc.)  Compiled  by  Robert  Fergus 
(portrait).    Pp.  68;  svo.    1876.  Price..  50  cents. 

3. — The  Last  of  the  Illinois;  and  a  Sketch  of  the  Pottawatomies.  A  Lec- 
ture read  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  December  13, 1870. 

Origin  of  the  Prairies :  A  Lecture  read  before  the  Ottawa  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  December  30, 1869.  By  Hon.  John  Dean  Caton,  LL.D.,  ex-Chief -Justice  of 
Illinois.    Pp.  56;  8vo.    1876.  Price,  25  cents. 

^A. — Early  Movement  in  Illinois  for  the  Legalization  of  Slavery:  An  His- 
torical Sketch  read  at  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  December 
5, 1864.    By  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Brown.    Pp.  32;  8vo.    1876.  Price,  25  cents. 

S. — Biographical  Sketches  of  Early  Settlers  of  Chicago.      Part  I:  —  Hon. 
S.  Lisle  Smith,  George  Davis,  Dr.  Philip  Maxwell,  John  J.  Brown,  Richard  L.  \\ 
Col.  Lewis  C.  Kercliival,  Uriah  P.  Harris,  Henry  B.  Clarke,  and  Sheriff  Samuel  J.  Lowe. 
By  Wm.  H.  Bushnell.    Pp.  48;  8vo.    1876.  Price,  25  cents. 

O. — Biographical  Sketches  of  Early  Settlers  of  Chicago.  Part  II :— lion. 
Wm.  H.  Brown  (portrait),  Benj.  W.  Raymond,  Esq.  (portrait),  Hon.  J.  Young  Scammon, 
Charles  Walker,  Esq,  Thomas  Church,  Esq.    Pp.  48:  8vo.    1876.  Price,  25  cents. 

T'. — Early  Chicago :  A  Sunday  Lecture  read  in  McCormick's  Hall,  May  7,  1876 
Wiih  Supplemental  Notes.  Second  Lecture.  By  Hon.  John  Wentworth  (portrait . 
Pp.  56;  8vo.    1876.  Price,  35  ce 

S. — Early  Chicago :  A  Sunday  Lecture  read  in  McCormick's  Hall,  April  n,  1875. 
With  Supplemental  Notes.     First  Lecture.     By  Hon.  John  Wentworth  (portrait 
Pp,  48;  8vo.    1876.  Price,  J5  co: 

£>. — Present  and  Future  Prospects  of  Chicago:  An  Address  read  before  the 
Chicago  Lyceum,  January  20, 1846.  By  Judge  Henry  Brown,  author  of  "History  of 
Illinois." 

Rise  and  Progress  of  Chicago:  An  Address  before  the  Centennial  Library  Asso- 
ciation, March  21.  187  .    By  James  A.  Marshall,  Esq. 

Chicago  in  1836;  "Strange  Early  Days."  By  Harriet  MartineaO,  author 
of  "Society  in  America,"  etc.    Pp.  48:  8vo.    1376.  Price,  25  cent*. 

1  O.— Addresses  Read  before  Chicago  Historical  Society,  by  Hon.  J.  Yoi 
Scammon,  lion.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  Wm.  Hickling,  Esq.,  Col.  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard, 
and  Hiram  \V.  Beokwtth,  Ksq. ;  Sketches  of  Col.  John  H.  Kiuzie,  by  his  wife-^JULi- 
ETTE  A-  Kinzie;  Judge  George  Manierre,  Luther  Haven,  Esq.,  and  other  Early  Set- 
tlers; also,  of  Billv  Caldwell  and  Shabonee,  and  the  "  Winnebairo  Scare,"  of  Jul> 
and  other  important  original  matter  connected  with  "Early  Chicago."  Pp.  52;  8vo. 
1877.  Price,  25  cents. 

1  1 . — Early  Medical  Chicago :  An  Historical  Sketch  of  the  First  Practitioners 
of  Medicine,  with  the  present  Faculties  and  Graduates  since  their  organization  of 
the  Medical  Colleges  of  Chicago.  By  James  NEvrNs  Hyde,  A.M.,  M.D.  Illustrated 
with  numerous  Wood  Engravings  and  Steel  Engravings  of  Professors  J.  Adams  Allen, 
N.  S.  Davis,  and  the  late  Daniel  Brainard.    Pp.  84 ;  8vo.    1879.  Price,  50  cents. 


FERGUS    PRINTING    COMPANY,    CHICAGO. 

1  S. — Illinois  in  the  18th  Century.     By  Edward  G.  Mason.     Three  Papers, 

I. — Kaskaskia  and  its   Parish  Records.     Read  before  the  Chicago  Historical 

Society,  Dec.  16,  1879. 
II. — Old  Fort  Chartres :  with  diagram  of  Fort.     Read  before  Chicago  Historical 

Society,  June  16, 1880. 
III. — Col.  John   Todd's    Record -Book.      Read   before   the   Chicago   Historical 

Society,  Feb.  15, 1881.    Pp.  68;  8vo.    1881.  Price,  50  cents. 

1  3. — Recollections  of  Early  Illinois  and  Her  Noted  Men.  By  Hon.  Joseph 
GrLLESPEE,  Edwardeville.  Read  b  fore  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  March  16, 1880. 
With  Portraits  of  Author,  Govs.  Reynolds  and  Bissell,  and  Henry  Gratiot.  Pp.  52; 
8vo.    1880.  Price,  50  cents. 

1  4. — The  Earliest  Religious  History  of  Chicago.  By  Rev.  Jeremiah  Por- 
ter, its  First  Resident  Pastor.  An  Address  read  before  the  Chicago  Historical 
Societv,  in  1859. 

Early  History  of  Illinois.     By  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Brown.      A  Lecture  read  before 

the  Chicago  Lyceum,  December  8,  1840. 
Early  Society  in  Southern  Illinois.     By  Rev.   Robert  W.  Patterson,  D.D. 

An  Address  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  October  19,  1880. 
Reminiscences  of  the  Illinois-Bar  Forty  Years  Ago :    Lincoln  and  Douglas  as 

Orators  and  Lawyers.     By  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold.     Read  before  the  Illinois  Bar 

Association,  Springfield,  January  7, 1881. 

The  First  Murder-Tnal  in  Iroquois  County  for  the  First  Murder  in  Cook 
County.    Pp.  112;  8vo.    1881.  Price,  50  cents. 

1  £>. — Abraham  Lincoln :  A  Paper  read  before  the  Royal  Historical  Society, 
London,  June  16, 1881.    By  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold. 

Stephen  Arnold  Douglas.  An  Eulogy.  Delivered  before  the  Chicago  Univer- 
sity, Bryan  Hall.  July  3, 1861.  By  Hon.  James  W.  Sheahan,  of  the  Chicago  Tribune. 
Pp.  56;  8vo.    1881.  Price,  25  cents. 

1  O. — Early  Chicago — Fort  Dearborn :  An  Address  read  at  the  Unveiling  of 
a  Tablet  on  the  Fort  Site,  under  the  Auspices  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  May 
21, 1881.  Third  Paper.  By  Hon.  John  Wentwobth,  LL.D.  With  an  Appendix,  etc. 
Portraits  of  Capt.  Wm.  Wells  and  Mrs.  Capt.  Heald;  also.  Indexes  to  Mr.  Wentworth's 
1st  and  2d  Lectures  and  "Calumet  Club  Reception."    Pp.  il2;  8vo.    1881.    Price,  75  cts. 

1  'y.—  William  B.  Ogden  (portrait);  and  Early  Days  in  Chicago.  By  Hon. 
Isaac  N.  Arnold  (portrait).  Read  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  Tuesday, 
December  20,  1881.  Also,  Sketches  of  William  B.  Ogden.  By  Hon.  J.  YOUNG  Scam- 
Mux  (portrait).     Pp.  72;  8vo.    1882.  Price,  40  cents. 

1  8. — Chicago  River-and-Harbor  Convention— -July  5,  6.  and  7,  1847.  An 
Account  of  its  Origin  and  Proceedings,  by  Wm:.  Mosley  Hall  (portrait),  John  Went- 
wobth, Samuel  Lisle  Smith,  Horace  Greeley,  Thurlow  Weed:  and  a  List  of 
Delegates;  together  with  Statistics  concerning  Chicago,  by  Jesse  B.  Thomas  and 
James  L.  Barton.    Compiled  by  Robert  Fergus.    Pp.  208;  Svo.    1882.    Price,  $1.00 

1  O.— Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago  (1833).     By  Charles  Cleaver. 
Pp.  52;  8vo.    1882.  Price,  25  cents. 

£JO. — A  Winter  in  the  West.  By  Charles  Fenno  Hoffman  (portrait). 
London,  1835.    Reprint,  with  Additional  Notes.    Pp.  60;  8vo.    1882.       Price,  50  cents. 

£21. — John  Dean  Caton,  LL.D.,  ex -Chief- Justice  of  Illinois.  Biographical 
Sketch  of.    Portrait.    By  Robert  Fergus.    Pp.  48;  8vo.    1882.  Pric?,  25  cent3. 

SS. — Recollections  of  Early  Chicago  and  the  Illinois  Bar.  By  Hon.  Isaac 
N.  ARNOLD.    Read  Tuesday  Evening,  June  10,  1880. 

Recollections  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  Central  Illinois.  By  Hon.  James 
C.  Conkltng  of  Springfield.    Read  January  12, 1881. 

The  Lawyer  as  a  Pioneer.  By  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne  (portrait).  Read  at  Fair- 
bank  Hall?  Thursday  evening,  February  10, 1881.    Pp.  108;  8vo.    1882.      Price.  75  cts. 

Bar-Association  Edition,  Royal  8vo.    $1.00 

£23. — Early  Illinois  Railroads.  A  Paper,  read  before  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  Tuesday  eveniDg,  Feb.  20.  1883.  By  Wm.  K.  Ackerman.  president  of  the  111. 
Cent.  R.  R.  Notes  by  Hon.  John  Wentwobth.  Also  an  Appendix  with  the  Breese- 
Douglas  Correspondence  on  the  Inception  and  Origin  of  the  Ill.-Cent.  R.  R..  and  the 
Origin  of  Names  of  Stations  on  the  Ill.-Cent.  R.R    Pp.  96;  8vo.    1884.  Price,  $1.00 


FERGUS    PRINTING    COMPANY,    CHICAGO. 

34. — Hon.  John  Wentworth's  Congressional  Reminiscences.  Sketches  ol 
John  Qulncy  Adams,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  John  0.  Calhoun,  Henry  Clav,  and  Daniel 
Webster.  An  Address  read  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  at  Central  Music 
Hall,  Thursday  Evening,  March  A6,  1882.  With  an  Appendix  and  a  complete  Index. 
Pp.  102;  8vo.    1862.  Price,  75  cents. 

22*3. — Chicago  Business  Directory  and  Statistics  for  1846.  By  T.  W.  Norris. 
Revised  and  corrected  by  Robert  Febgus.    Reprint.    Pp.  72 ;  8vo.    1883.    Price,  50c. 

£SO. — Aborigines  of  the  Ohio  Valley;  A  Discourse  prepared  in  1838  at  the 
request  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Ohio.  By  William  Henry  Harrison,  Maj.-Gen. 
U.  S-  Army,  President  of  the  United  States,  etc.  With  Notes  by  Hon.  Edward 
Everett,  and  an  Appendix.       Also, 

Speeches  delivered  in  General  Council  at  Fort  Wayne,  Sept.  4,  181 1,  by 
Chiefs  of  the  Miami  Indians,  iu  answer  to  General  Harrison,  Governor  of  Indiana 
Territory,  etc.;  also,  something  about  the  History,  Manners,  and  Customs  of  the 
Northwestern  Indians,  from  MSS.,  supposed  to  be  in  the  handwriting  of  Capt. 
William  Wells.    Pp.  80;  8vo.    1383.  Price,  50  cents. 

Q'**'. — The  Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians.  By  Hiram  W.  Beckwith,  Esq. 
Pp.  96;  8vo.    1884.  Price,  50  cents. 

S8. — Chicago  Directory,  1843,  .  Canvassed  by  James  Wellington  Norris. 
Revised  and  Corrected,  with  numerous  omitted  Additions,  etc,  by  Robert  Fergus. 
Pp.  88;  8vo.  (In  Press,  nearly  ready.)       Price,  $1.00 

29.- -Joseph  Duncan,  fifth  Governor  of  Illinois;  Biographical  Sketch  of.  By 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Julia  Duncan  Kibby.   Illustrated.   Pp.  96;  8vo.    1888.   Price,  50c. 

30, — Massacre  at  Chicago,  August  15,  1812.  By  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie. 
Reprint  (1844),  with  additional  notes  and  index.    Illustrated.    Pp.  2;  8vo.    1889. 

(In  Press)  Price,  $1.00 


(GOV.  REYNOLDS')   PIONEER   HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Containing  the  Discovery  in  1673  and  the  History  of  the  Country  to  the 
Year  1818,  when  the  State  Government  was  organized.  By  John  Reynolds,  late 
Governor  of  Illinois,  Member  of  Congress,  State  Senator,  and  Representative,  etc., 
Belleville,  111.,  1852.  Reprinted  from  the  original  edition,  to  which  have  been  added 
Notes  and  a  complete  Index.    Portraits.    Pagrs  499;  8vo.    Cloth  Boards ;  uncut.    1887. 

Price,  $5.00 


(GOV.  REYNOLDS')   MY   OWN   TIMES. 

[A  History  of  Illinois  ;1  Embracing  also  the  History  of  My  Life.  By  John  Rey- 
nolds, late  Gov.  of  Illinois,  Member  of  Congress,  State  Senator,  and  Representative, 
etc.  With  Portrait.  Reprinted  from  the  Original  Edition  of  1855,  to  which  has  been 
added  a  complete  Index.  Cloth  Boards;  Gilt-toi);  Side  and  bottom  uncut;  Antique 
Paper.    Tp.  426;8vo.    1879.    Edition  of  112  Copies.  Price,  $T..">0 


THE   MARTYRDOM    OF   LOVEJOY. 

An  Account  of  the  Life,  Trials,  and  Perils  of  Rev.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  who 
was  killed  by  a  Pro-Slavery  Mob,  at  Alton,  111.,  on  the  night  of  November  7,  1181. 
By  Henry  Tanner,  of  Buffalo,  N.Y.,  an  Eye-Witness.  Cloth  Boards;  Gilt-top;  Side 
and  bottom  uncut;  Illustrated.    Pp.  233;  8 vo.    1881.  Price,  *2.00 


LETTERS  FROM  A  CHIMNEY-CORNER. 
A  Plea  for  Pure  Homes  and  Sincere  Relations  between  Men  and  Women. 
By  Mrs.  Caroline  F.  Corbin.  Pp.  50;  8vo.    1886.  Paper,  25  cents. 


FERGUS   PRINTING   COMPANY,   CHICAGO. 

CHICAGO    CALUMET    CLUB. 

Reception  to  the  Settlers  of  Chicago,  prior  to  1840,  by  the  Calumet  Club, 
May  27,  1879.  Containing  Club-Members'  Names:  Origin  of  Reception;  Record  of 
Old  Settlers  invited;  Reception;  Speeches  of  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Beggs,  Gen.  Henry 
Strong,  Ex-Chief-Justice  John  Dean  Caton,  Judge  Henry  W.  Blodgett,  Judge  James 
Grant,  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  Judge  Grant  Goodrich,  Hon.  J.  Young  Scammon,  and 
Hon.  W.  Bross;  Tables  showing  places  of  Birth,  Year  of  Arrival,  and  Age  of  those 
who  attended  and  signed  Register;  Appendix  with  Letters  from  John  Watkins,  Nor- 
man K.  Towner,  Rev.  Flavel  Bascom,  Maj.-Gen.  David  Hunter,  Judge  Ebenezer  Peck, 
Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter,  and  the  names  from  whom  brief  Letters  o:  Regret  were 
received:  Extracts  from  Chicago  Tribune  and  Evening  Journal.  Compiled  by 
Hon.  John  Wentwobth.    Pp.  90;  8vo.    1879.  Price,  50  cents. 


Noted  Battles  for  the  Union  during  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States 

of  America,  1861-5: 

(Vol.  I.)  CHICKAMAUGA.  By  John  B.  Turchin  (portrait),  late  brigadier- 
general  United-States  Volunteers,  formerly  Colonel  of  the  General  Staff  (Etat- Major) 
in  the  Imperial  Guards  of  Russia.  With  Rosters  of  Army  of  the  Cumberland  and 
Army  of  the  Tennessee;  strength  and  losses  of  each  army;  and  a  complete  Index. 
Illustrated  with  8  Maps.        Pp.  295;  8 vo.    Cloth  Boards;  uncut.    Iks*.        Price,  $3.00 


ILLINOIS,  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL: 

Comprising  the  essential  facts  of  its  Planting  and  Growth  as  a  Province,  County, 
Territory,  and  State.  Derived  from  the  most  authentic  sources,  including  Original 
Documents  and  Papers;  together  with  carefully-prepared  Statistical  Tables  relating 
to  Population,  Financial  Administration,  Industrial  Progress,  Internal  Growth,  Politi- 
cal and  Military  Events.  By  John  Moses,  ex-County  Judge  of  Scott  County,  Privafe 
Secretary  of  Gov.  Yates,  Member  of  the  Twenty-Ninth  General  Assembly  of  Illinois. 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commissioners — 1880-3,  Secretary 
and  Librarian  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  etc..  eta  42  Illustrations.  Vol.  I. 
Pp.  551;  8vo.  1839. 
Extra  English  Cloth,  Plain  Edge,  $3.50  Half  Turkey  Uor  ceo,  Marbled  Edge,  $5  00 
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